VeggieTales: A New Beginning In A New Era
by Stephanie Nova Rose Allen
Summary: It has been 2 years since the last adventure occurred. But, then an unexpected change of events happened, that turned the present upside down. Everyone hoped that they get heroes to save the day, but, did not suspect that it would be 'outside.'
1. An Orb In A Mess

It was another tiresome Saturday for Stephanie to sit and relax, but she did not want to sit around and relax.

There was nothing good going on the television, and Stephanie has no idea where the nearest library is to pick out any good cookbooks.

Since she has no school to go to after graduating, she has no homework to do either or other projects either.

Her mind is blank with ideas of making ceramics, paintings, or any other crafts to make, too.

To make things clear, Stephanie is bored, and she hates it very much.

Stephanie groaned to herself as she rubbed her temples with her fingers of her hands, trying to figure something out to get the boredom out of her mind.

But no matter how many times Stephanie tried to think of another way to get boredom out, it seemed to get stuck to her like glue.

Sighing, Stephanie got up from the chair she was sitting on top of, feeling some of her bones pop from not moving for a long time.

After getting up from her couch, she glanced around to see if there was something to do.

Everything around Stephanie looked clean, so the rooms that needed to be checked were off the list for her.

She went to the kitchen and checked that off her list of things to clean in her mind.

The bathroom, the master bedroom, and her room were clean, so they were off the to-do list, too.

But, on the other hand, she did not check the attic of her home ever since she had moved inside after moving out of her 'roommate's' house.

So Stephanie went up the stairs, entering a dark part of the house because the electricians did not install lights into the hallway.

She paused when she noticed the darkness, blinking once as her eyes glowed a little in a light blue color.

Stephanie had turned on her night vision, clearly looking in the dark without having to use her flashlight.

After turning on her night vision, Stephanie walked up to the knob on the ceiling above her head.

It was in the middle of the hallway too, which was not difficult for her.

She reached up with a hand and turned the knob, opening a secret hatch to the attic, as the stairs came down for her to climb up.

After the stairs came down for Stephanie, she climbed up the stairs and entered the dark and musty smelling attic.

The smell did not bother Stephanie as she glanced around for a moment, looking for something inside the darkness.

She looked around the room for a moment before finding the light switch on the side of the attic.

Stephanie reached over to the light switch and turned on the lights.

The sudden light blinded her as she yelped a little, moving her arms up to cover them as her vision blurred.

Remembering that she had her night vision on, Stephanie blinked her eyes a few times, eventually turning her night vision off.

Stephanie's eyesight returned to normal after a few more blinks but was a little stunned by the sudden brightness.

'Note to self:' Stephanie thought to herself. 'Don't turn on night vision when you know that you are going to make yourself blind like a bat!'

She softly groaned as she removed her hands from her face, seeing what was inside the attic.

After the lights clicked on, Stephanie could see boxes and boxes in the attic, stacked up high, and partly opened after being too stuffed.

At the far back of the attic was a small round window with a shutter.

It looked like it had not been opened for a long time since the previous owners did not come up nor when she came here either.

'This might take a long time…' Stephanie thought to herself as she exhaled through her mouth before shrugging to herself. 'Oh well, beats being bored all day.'

She reached into the pocket of her sweater and took out a black rubber band and placed it around the wrist of her right hand.

Stephanie used her fingers to brush her long hair back, revealing some small scars on her shoulders underneath her sweater and shirt.

There was also a small, thin scar trailing from one side of her collarbone close to her neck, going from one side to the other.

Once the last of her long hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, she removed the rubber band from her wrist and tied it around her thick hair and wires.

'Okay,' she thought to herself as her second pair of arms appeared from underneath her first pair, cracking her knuckles. 'Let's get this started.'

She went to the first boxes in front of her and started opening them, taking items out inside them and examining them.

The dust that covered the boxes went through the air as she continued sorting through the items left behind.

It did not bother Stephanie since she does not have allergies anymore since her recent 'upgrade' she had a long time ago.

Instead, she sneezed a few times after some dust went up her nostrils, covering with her shoulder to be polite to herself.

Minutes turned into hours as Stephanie continued sorting and bubbling some items that could go to charity, as others would be useful to use again.

Suddenly, she came across a box filled with children's items inside, and old VHS tapes that were covered in dust.

Stephanie paused when she noticed the old VHS tapes, picking one of the covers of a DVD movie, looking at the poster.

Her dyed streak in her hair turned blue as she stared at the movie in her hand, as her mood changed slowly.

After a few minutes of staring at the DVD in her hand, Stephanie snapped out of the state she was in, reminding herself of what she was doing earlier.

She shook her head, and the dyed streak in her hair turned back to its original color that it was dyed before.

She placed the video back inside and closed the box, before bubbling it and tapping the top, teleporting it away.

Once she had teleported the box that was filled with DVDs and VHSes, Stephanie sat back down on the ground and sighed.

A soft, confused expression appeared on her face when she felt a tear from her cheek, reaching up with a hand and wiped it away.

"Keep it together, Steph," she muttered to herself as she went back to what she was doing. "No need to remember."

She went back to cleaning the attic after encountering the box that was filled with children's items inside, almost finishing cleaning the attic.

When Stephanie was halfway through sorting the last boxes, she reached over to a very stuffed box.

'Geez, who filled this one?' Stephanie thought to herself, grimacing softly.

Just as she placed her hands on the box, something rustled inside it, causing Stephanie to yelp from the sudden movement.

She summoned her spear from her chest, pointing it at the box that moved.

Nothing happened after she summoned her spear, looking confused.

'Was it a raccoon?' Stephanie thought to herself, moving up slightly from her knees.

She used the tip of the spear to poke at the box gently, which caused no reaction to the poking.

Suspicious, Stephanie used the tip of the spear to move the flaps of the box to get more reaction out of it, but once again, nothing happened.

'Maybe it was my imagination.' Stephanie sighed to herself, unsummoning her spear away into thin air.

She reached back into the box but paused a little before slowly opening the flaps.

Just as the last flap was off, something inside sprung out from inside, causing Stephanie to shriek out of startlement.

With her hands, Stephanie covered her head in case something hit her, curled into a tight ball as she had her gem shield summoned that surrounded her body.

But, instead, something clunked in front of her, which caused her to curl more tightly.

She thought it was a bomb tossed into her home after the jump scare.

It rolled to a stop in front of her legs, perking Stephanie slightly from taking cover and curiously moving her shield up from where she was.

The noise caused her to slowly uncurl from a ball, unsummoning her shield to disappear.

Maybe the 'attack' was a fake instead?

She slowly moved her hands away from her head after everything had stopped.

Stephanie then glanced around to see if there was more damage to her home than to herself.

To her luck, nothing had happened to her home, and there were no broken windows for any signs of pranks.

Or robbery from the thieves that she often hears from the news on the TV.

'That's weird?' Stephanie thought to herself as she blushed slightly with embarrassment. 'Did someone prank me?'

On the other hand, how did someone get into her home without her noticing?

And what was the object that attacked her before?

She glanced down at the wooden floor with confusion to see what the object was.

To her surprise, it was a perfectly round golden orb that was encrested with designs of waves and had a compass design on the top.

But the orb looked damaged too, despite looking all shiny and golden.

There were some areas of the orb that were cut and stained with the smell of smoke.

Some spots of the orb were pitch black, and there were some dents on it too.

It was small too, about half of Stephanie's palm, and looked like she could easily crush it with her bare hand.

Stephanie felt curious and relieved that it was only an orb, but, on the other hand, she felt confused about where it had come from.

Ignoring the size, Stephanie gently picked the object up from the wooden ground in front of her carefully, staring at it for a moment.

The details looked perfectly outlined, and everything about it considered being ancient in her taste.

Deciding to fix the orb to restore it back to what it used to look like, she placed two of her fingers on top of the object, before saying, "_Restituo._"

After she had said that, the orb slowly started getting repaired back to normal, while the smell of smoke disappeared too.

Once it had been fully repaired from being damaged, the center of the compass design opened automatically, making Stephanie feel confused.

'What is it doing?' Stephanie thought to herself, feeling worried about what she did to it in the first place.

She lifted the orb to her eyes to have a closer inspection of it, seeing that there was a small camera inside it.

'Very strange.' Stephanie nodded softly to herself. 'When did cameras were invented in the first place?'

Suddenly, the button started beeping red, making Stephanie feel more confused about it, wondering what else was happening.

The feeling inside her was telling her to press the button to see what else could happen.

It was also telling her that it could even get herself out of boredom, thinking that it might be one of the puzzle boxes she solved before.

So Stephanie obeyed that order, and with her finger, she pressed the small, black button that was on the orb underneath the camera.

A click came from the orb in her hand after Stephanie had pressed the button with her finger, removing it away to wait for further inspections.

She removed her finger from it with a worried expression on her face, thinking she had made a disastrous mistake.

The beeping stopped along with the blinking had stopped too, which seemed a little troublesome to Stephanie.

Nothing was happening to her or anything else, nor explosions, thinking that she had accidentally pressed a button to blow something up.

Stephanie was about to feel disappointed and relieved at the same time that nothing happened when she suddenly disappeared into thin air after a light blue flash of light underneath her body, leaving nothing behind.

1


	2. Wrong Time, Wrong Place and Weird People

Stephanie blinked after being blinded by the light, shaking her head a little.

Suddenly, without warning, she started _falling_ through the air, shrieking out of startlement.

Automatically, Stephanie's sweater slowly melted off from her body like water as she continued falling through the air, before attaching itself to her wrists and ankles, turning itself into a parachute.

Stephanie yelped again as she bounced up in the air after her parachute-like sweater puffed up, causing her to sigh.

"Holy snickers, that was close." she sighed with relief.

Slowly, she reached concrete after being flung through the air, landing safely on the ground on her feet, as the parachute slowly morphed back into her sweater, like liquid.

As her sweater transformed back into itself, Stephanie glanced down at the orb in her hands she had as she was falling.

Ever since she had fixed it from being broken, it somehow blinded her after beeping and blinking a red color.

If only she had not pushed that button…

Ignoring her stupid move from earlier, she placed the orb into her sweater pocket.

After placing the orb back into her sweater's pocket, she had a feeling that something was... off.

She glanced around from where she was and slowly noticed that she was standing in the middle of a city.

But this city looked deserted, as there was no one else around.

Something _is_ off about this place.

Before Stephanie could look for someone, something suddenly crashed in front of her.

It caused rubble to fly at her from where she was and brought up some dust.

Yelping, she jolted three feet off the ground before landing on her feet, noticing it was a cannonball.

The cannonball was sizzling hot and made a dent in the street's concrete.

Stephanie looked confused to see a cannonball in front of her until her super hearing heard more cannon shots and glanced over to the right-hand side.

Whizzing through the air, Stephanie could see a long line of cannonballs heading towards where she was standing, as she noticed it was a city.

"Holy schnikes!" Stephanie exclaimed before moving to the side in a quick move, ducking just in time before a cannonball landed on her.

After dodging a little, Stephanie noticed that more cannonballs were heading towards the city, and she groaned.

"I have no time for this!" Stephanie snapped, before summoning a baseball bat out of thin air and grasping it in her hand.

It was silver as the handle was wrapped in black bandages.

Stephanie positioned herself to hit one of the cannonballs as it got closer and closer to where she was.

"Batter up!" Stephanie smirked before hitting the cannonball as hard as she could with the bat.

After one swing, Stephanie sent it back over to where someone was shooting it from the other side of the city.

Once she had hit the cannonball, something crashed in the distance, causing her to perk a little from the sound.

Not only that, but she heard voices speaking from a distance, too.

Since she has super-hearing, Stephanie could hear the noises of a fly miles away from where she is standing.

"Blimey!" a voice exclaimed, sounding like a pirate. "Wha' was that?!"

Sighing, she continued listening to the conversation from the other side of the city, still holding the bat in her hand.

If they continued firing, Stephanie would send it all back with a swing of her trusty metal bat in her hands.

"Continue firin'!" snapped another pirate. "I wants t' make this village into rubble!"

'That must be the captain.' Stephanie thought to herself as she continued listening to the conversation.

"But we be down t' seven cannons, cap'n!" another pirate's voice spoke, sounding panicked. "Whoever be in th' village, must be very strong! We could wait 'til our spies come here wit' th' scallywag responsible fer th' actions."

A pause came from the captain for a moment, before saying, "Fine! Find that scallywag 'n brin' 'im t' me!"

Stephanie winced a little from the conversation and changed her hearing to normal, making the bat in her hands disappear.

She glanced around for anywhere to hide from the pirates, trying not to get caught.

She then noticed someone hopping along the side of an alley before entering inside.

Without saying a single word, Stephanie ran down the alley as fast as she could, before stopping as she watched a hooded figure open a door, before entering inside and closing it behind.

But the door did not close fully and was only left ajar.

Running over to the door, she opened it wide and entered inside, before closing the door behind her back, this time without leaving it ajar.

After closing the door behind her back, something collapsed from underneath Stephanie's feet and caused her to go through something tunnel-y.

She turned herself into a straight pencil as she slid through the tunnel, mentally liking the ride she was on.

There was light at the end of the tunnel, so she prepared herself for the crash landing.

She crossed her arms over her chest and placed her legs together as tightly as she could.

Instead, Stephanie landed on something soft after she was flung out, sinking into the softness after impact.

It was deep enough to hide her from someone, but she wanted to see who else was in the room with her.

Sliding off the mat, she hid behind a sideways table and glanced over the side, watching the cloaked figure hopped over to a barrel.

For some reason, Stephanie did not see a hand poke through the cloak but instead heard a tapping noise from the barrel.

"Bob?" a voice spoke from the cloaked figure. "You can come out now. I got enough food for everyone to last."

"Really?" another voice spoke through the barrel as the lid moved up slightly.

"Yep!" the cloaked figure nodded. "But I don't know how much there is inside the bags, though."

The lid of the barrel opened without someone's hands, and to Stephanie's surprise, a large red tomato jumped out from inside.

The tomato has eyes with black pupils without the irises, a nose, and a mouth.

It surprised Stephanie to see a moving tomato before her eyes.

"Did anyone else follow you, Larry?" the red tomato asked as Stephanie ducked a little behind the table.

"Nope," the voice responded. "Not what I think of. Besides, I think everyone else is inside this hideout with us."

Stephanie heard the noises of shuffling and something moving, so she peeked again, seeing more vegetables coming out of their hiding spots.

Some of them were asparagus, carrots, and other vegetables, even fruits.

There were no humans in sight, except for Stephanie, who was hiding behind the table.

Stephanie hid again behind the table, thinking to herself about what she was seeing.

Then, she remembered the orb she had found, thinking it must have taken her here to change something.

She reached into her sweater's pocket and took the orb out from inside, staring at it in her hand in confusion.

"Larry, could you get that table over there?" Bob, the name of the tomato, asked, nodding his body over to where she is as she placed the orb back into her sweater pocket.

"Sure!" nodded Larry as the sounds of something hopping towards the table where Stephanie is.

Stephanie mentally shrieked at herself in a panic, ducking down just in time after the cloaked figure turned around to where she was.

She did not want to get caught by living vegetables and fruits and get herself into serious trouble.

On the verge of getting up from the ground, Stephanie placed a foot down and was about to get up when her side suddenly twinged with pain.

Wincing, Stephanie went back down from about to stand up, clutching it with her left hand, feeling confused about the feeling.

She leaned back against the table behind her, still in slight pain as it slowly went away.

After the pain had gone away, she heard the footsteps behind her, before stopping _right where she was_.

'Uh oh,' Stephanie winced softly to herself.

Before Stephanie could try again, the table was removed from her back, causing her to yelp again.

After the table was removed, she landed on the ground, back first as she groaned in pain.

She was staring up at the figure who was named 'Larry,' who is a cucumber, with the same eyes as Bob.

"Oops, sorry," he apologized, before turning around and hopping away from Stephanie, not even noticing she was there.

Mentally, Stephanie thought he was being a little dense to notice she was there, or maybe tried from all the chaos happening around.

After he had walked away from her, Stephanie flipped over to her front from lying on the ground.

As Stephanie slowly rose to her feet from being on her front, her hair and wires covered her face.

Somehow, her rubber band that was keeping her hair up was accidentally yanked off during the ride.

"What?" Larry asked, sounding confused. "Is there somethin' on my face?"

"Uh, well, um," Bob stammered, as Stephanie fully rose to her feet, wobbling a little.

Her hair covered her glasses too, so Stephanie was lucky it did not make them dirty.

The sound of the table being put down came to Stephanie, perking her a little.

"Okay, Bob, I know you're makin' that face because somethin' is goin' on and…" Larry drifted off when he noticed something. "There's somethin' behind me, isn't there?"

Silence filled the air, and Stephanie reached up to her long hair and wires, pushing them back just in time for Larry to turn around, seeing Stephanie behind him.

They stared at each other for a moment, before Stephanie said, "Uh, hi?"

After she had said those two words to him, chaos reigned through the room.

People were screaming and hopping around, getting into places where they should hide.

Stephanie watched with startlement and surprise as they screamed and scrambled into places.

Sometimes, they would bump into each other before scrambling back to what they were doing.

After the last veggie had hidden, all that was left was a small asparagus in front of her.

He is wearing a hat on top of his head, and like the other two vegetables, irisless eyes.

The asparagus is smaller than the other asparaguses that Stephanie saw before they even hid.

The small asparagus was staring back at Stephanie with fear in his eyes.

Stephanie, on the other hand, looked side to side for a moment, her hands still holding her hair and wires back, sighed, and flipped it over her shoulders from covering her face.

Once her hair was flipped over her shoulders, Stephanie sarcastically asked, placing a hand on her hip, "Is this a tradition to new people who come inside this secret place?"

The small asparagus raised an eyebrow after Stephanie said that before she continued, "Screaming and running around to find spots to hide? I don't think people back at my home do that easily."

The small asparagus paused for a moment after she sarcastically spoke, and timidly asked, "Do-Do you… eat veggies?"

Stephanie glanced back over at the small asparagus as he flinched when her eyes settled on him and gently shook her head no.

"No, not really." Stephanie sighed, her mind pausing a little from her response. "I'm a carnivore, which means that I only eat meat. I'm not very fond of vegetables, either."

In her mind, Stephanie wanted to tell him truthfully of what she _does_ eat in the vegetable side of the food, but not wanting to freak him out, she instead sticks with the not being fond of eating vegetables.

The small asparagus looked slightly surprised from the answer Stephanie gave, as there were some hints of hurt too.

"Ouch," a voice softly spoke, before being hushed by another.

The small asparagus paused again, before Stephanie asked, mentioning over to him with a metal hand, "Do you eat human meat, by the way?"

Half of her was worried that they do because she did not want to be eaten by food…

'Okay, I'm going to stop there.' Stephanie mentally sighed to herself.

"No, ew," he exclaimed, giving a slightly disgusted expression on his face. "We're om-on-om…"

He drifted off a little from the word he was trying to say as he glanced around, before Stephanie politely said, "Omnivores?"

"Yeah, that's it!" he nodded, before cocking his head to the side in confusion. "I thought humans were omnivores too."

"Some of them are herbivores, which means to eat plants," Stephanie explained as she pushed her glasses into place with a single finger, before saying, "No offense."

"None taken." the small asparagus said, still staying where he was, observing her body with every inch of her, including staring at her right metal hand, eye, and wires for a moment.

Stephanie smiled as he glanced back up to her eyes after looking at every detail of her body and continued, "Yes, we are omnivores, but we also are carnivores, too. We only eat…"

Stephanie drifted off while blushing a little in a neon pink color, feeling sheepish to continue her sentence, knowing it is rude to speak in front of 'food.'

"Non-living veggies?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Stephanie nodded. "Excuse me if I accidentally insult anyone in the room, but that's what I eat sometimes. Non-living veggies. I don't randomly eat living veggies, that's like you eating our kind after seeing us for the first time."

"Yikes." he winced, turning a little pale green in the face. "That's cannibalism!"

Stephanie nodded her head in agreement and gritted her teeth slightly in thought about what she said.

If she was a cannibal, she would not call herself a human anymore.

In instinct, Stephanie gently nibbles on her lower lip with her teeth at the thought of not being human, revealing her canines to the small asparagus kid.

"Holy cheese!" he exclaimed as Stephanie glanced back over at him with a slightly confused expression on her face and stopped nibbling on her lower lip.

"What?" Stephanie asked as he hopped closer to her without hesitation.

Since their conversation, Stephanie has noticed that he is a little brave to come closer to her, even though he _did_ not see anything else she can do.

Stephanie mentally pushed the thought away from her mind to stop herself from doubting herself about everything she does.

"Junior!" exclaimed a voice in the distance, snapping her from her doubts. "Don't get too close to that… creature!"

Stephanie glanced over at the voice with a 'seriously?' expression on her face, as the voice went silent.

After giving that expression, Stephanie glanced back down at the small asparagus in front of her.

She watched as he moved his body up a little, looking like he was trying to stand on his 'tiptoes' to make eye contact with her.

"Can you kneel a little?" he asked, cocking his head slightly to the side as he moved back down.

Stephanie obeyed and knelt in front of him, being careful with hurting him on accident or on purpose.

Since she is taller than most of the veggies in the room, the small asparagus is only down to her knee.

But, kneeling to his height, she is still taller than him since he only reaches her chest.

Stephanie asked, while slightly cocking her head to the side, "I take it that your name is 'Junior?'"

Junior, the name of the small asparagus, nodded his head and asked, "Can you open your mouth?"

Immediately, Stephanie jolted and looked surprised by the ask from Junior, worried that he _did_ want to be eaten.

"Excuse me!?" Stephanie exclaimed, feeling worried about what he was thinking. "I thought-"

"No, not that!" Junior denied, shaking his head side to side. "It's your teeth!"

A confused expression replaced her shock, slowly reaching up to her cheek with a hand.

"What's wrong with my teeth?" Stephanie asked in confusion.

"You… have sharp canines!" Junior answered, pointing out something about Stephanie.

Stephanie pursed her lips a little, blushing again in a light neon pink color.

"You looked almost like a vampire." Junior giggled.

A sly smirk appeared on Stephanie's face after he had pointed that out, moving her hands up and mocked, speaking in an excellent fake German accent, "I'm Dracula, blah, blah, blah!"

Junior giggled again after Stephanie joked, as everyone poked slightly out of their hiding places, noticing that she was not doing anything _strange_ to her, but instead _playing_ with him as if he was a child to her.

After joking about her canines' looking almost like Dracula, Stephanie felt her teeth with her tongue, being careful with opening a scar on her tongue.

"Well," Stephanie continued, still blushing a little from Junior's compliment and joke about her canines. "They are usually used more for showing more than for eating."

Junior cocked an eyebrow in confusion, and Stephanie sighed, stopping to feel her teeth with her tongue.

"I take it you want a closer look at them?" Stephanie asked as she glanced back down at him.

"That's the plan." Junior nodded. "Are they real?"

Stephanie chuckled and asked, "If you want to see if they are, sure. But you need something to get up higher to get a better look because I'm still taller than you."

Junior paused for a moment and hopped away from Stephanie.

Stephanie watched Junior hopped over to one of the chairs as she distantly noticed a veggie was hiding underneath it.

Junior pushed the chair over to Stephanie, before hopping on top of the seat.

He hopped onto the seat and asked again, "Can you open your mouth?"

Stephanie blushed slightly with sheepishness, but obeyed and opened her mouth, showing her canines to him.

For some odd reason, she felt… fingers wrapping around her first canine and gently tugged it.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Junior as Stephanie opened her mouth slightly for the 'fingers' to fit inside comfortably. "They _are_ real!"

"Junior!" exclaimed the same voice, which was loud and caused them both to jolt.

Luckily, he removed his 'hand' just in time before closing clicked her jaws closed, accidentally biting her mouth.

"Ow!" she winced before lifting a hand to her mouth as Junior glanced over at her. "Mother-! Yep, that's going to leave a mark."

"What happened?" Junior asked, sounding worried for her.

"I bit my tongue," Stephanie answered, feeling some blood against her tongue. "Again!"

"So, that's where the scars are from!" Junior exclaimed. "Your canines are so sharp that they can penetrate through anything!"

A slight blush appeared on Stephanie's face, as she felt one of the scars against her lip with her tongue.

He was not wrong about them being all scarred up from her teeth.

"And I have a bad habit of chewing my lips when I get nervous," Stephanie added as her blush deepened a little. "Only on the inside of my mouth."

"Ohhh!" Junior smiled. "Does it get stuck in food too?"

"A little," Stephanie nodded, before noticing an adult asparagus behind him.

He is wearing a black and yellow striped tie around his neck and, like Junior, irisless eyes.

He quickly picked Junior up from the chair with a worried expression on his face.

"E-Excuse my son," he nervously chuckled.

Stephanie cocked an eyebrow at him slightly before standing up to her height, causing him to shake in fear.

"Dad," Junior smiled. "She's friendly! Stephanie does not eat vegetables or fruits!"

"Yes, until she decides to eat us out of hunger!" his father added, hopping away from her backwards. "She's a beast!"

"Ex-fricking-scuse me?!" exclaimed Stephanie, sounding insulted by the words his father said.

Everyone jolted after Stephanie exclaimed, as his father stopped mid-hop from her, watching as her eye color turned a light red color.

"Get your skinny, green butt back over here!" Stephanie swung her right metal hand towards him, and the wrist of her hand disconnected from it.

The end of her hand was connected to a metal chain from inside her arm that never stops.

The metal hand grabbed Junior's father's tie before he reached the other side of the large room and yanked him back, as he gave Junior to his wife.

Junior's mother wears a pearl necklace around her neck, along with earrings.

After he was yanked back over to Stephanie, she said in front of his face, "I don't eat people! Didn't you hear it in the conversation we had?!"

"Uh, yes, I-I did!" his father stammered, shaking like a leaf in front of Stephanie.

Junior, on the other hand, was worried about what she was going to do next, but Stephanie took a deep breath and slowly exhaled from being angry.

Stephanie continued, after calming down a little from being insulted, "Listen, I'm not a cannibal, I'm a human like you. I'm not a beast either, since I looked different from the rest. I was being friendly to your son, and you don't have to protect him from everything. Trust me, as I trust you."

A surprised expression appeared on Junior's Dad's face, as Stephanie gently picked him up from the ground and placed him down, standing up straight from being tugged back towards her.

Slowly, some vegetables inched closer to Stephanie, as Junior's Dad adjusted his tie slightly from being grabbed.

Junior hopped out of his mother's 'arms' and over to Stephanie as she glanced down at him, still a little annoyed.

"Sorry about my dad." Junior apologized.

"It's okay," Stephanie granted. "I've met many people like your dad before."

A slightly confused expression appeared on Junior's face for a moment before shaking it off.

"We have never seen a human before!" Larry softly spoke, peeking around a leek.

"Then," Stephanie spoke, before pausing. "How did you know what a human was?"

"We usually talk to them through the television from their letter," Bob answered, nodding his head. "Or from Qwerty back in the kitchen. But, since Robert the Terrible came here from the past and destroyed everything, the show's canceled until he was brought back to his time!"

"Then, Robert the Terrible is that pirate I heard?" Stephanie asked, pointing up.

Shocked expressions appeared on their faces when Stephanie mentioned that she had heard of him.

"You saw Robert the Terrible?!" exclaimed Larry.

"No," Stephanie shook her head. "I heard him! I was brought here from this object I found," she reached into her sweater pocket and pulled out the same orb that she found. "And was attacked by him! I made it out okay, but I think he is peeved that I fought back."

"'Fought back?!'" exclaimed Larry again. "How?!"

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders, knowing that telling them the truth of _how_ she did it, it would sound weird to them and answered, "I just did. I didn't land on his ship, thank gosh."

Everyone glanced at each other for a moment, before an elderly grape stepped up close to Stephanie.

He has no eyes, a gray mustache, and glasses.

The elderly grape said, "But I am more surprised that you fixed the Helpseeker."

Stephanie glanced down at the orb in her hand before going back at them.

"This is a Helpseeker?" She asked, holding it out for them to look.

The elderly grape took it from her palm to have a look at it closer.

"Yes, but," nodded Bob. "You need to keep it in case you need to get back home."

Stephanie nodded her head as the elderly grape handed it back to her and placed the Helpseeker back into her sweater pocket.

"One question," Larry spoke. "How are you taller than anyone else?"

Stephanie softly chuckled to herself from the silly question Larry asked her, and calmly answered, "Because someone important in my life taught me that eating my fruits and veggies could get me strong and tall."

"Not referencing us as 'fruits and veggies?'" Bob asked.

"Nope," Stephanie answered, shaking her head no.

"Good, I was getting worried." Bob sighed.

Stephanie rolled her eyes slightly while smirking softly.

Suddenly, another vegetable came popping through the tunnel and landed on the mattress.

He is an elderly cucumber with short gray hair and wearing a white shirt, brown tie, and black pants with a belt.

Still, no legs, but it is strange to see him with pants on.

He was slightly bruised and looked tired, as his uniform looked ripped.

"Mr. Nezzer!" exclaimed Bob as he ran over to him. "What happened?!"

"Where's Archie?!" Larry exclaimed.

Mr. Nezzer, the name of the elderly cucumber, sat up slightly from the mattress, panting a few times.

"He's-He's stuck up there!" Mr. Nezzer exclaimed through his pants. "I managed to escape, but I don't know about him!"

Everyone worriedly glanced at each other.

They know they are too scared to get to the surface to find 'Archie.'

Stephanie thought to herself for a moment before saying, "Let me get up there to save him."

Instantly, all eyes were on her, with shocked expressions on their faces.

"You?" Bob asked. "B-But, you just got here! Robert's goons might catch you, too!"

"I know," Stephanie nodded before glancing around and seeing the exit. "I'll be back sooner or later! No vegetable left behind!"

With that, she went through the exit door and started heading over to the surface.

Everything was quiet inside the room before Mr. Nezzer asked, "Who was that?"

"Someone out of the ordinary." Junior's Dad answered.

1


	3. Rescue Mission

Stephanie continued searching for this 'Archie' person, using her speed and super hearing.

She zipped and zoomed around the semi-destroyed city, still searching for the man as fast as she could.

Not only that, it is semi-destroyed from those cannonballs that Robert the Terrible launches, but it is empty too!

It all seemed like a ghost town Stephanie had entered after being teleported from the Helpseeker.

Just as she passed by an 'abandoned' alley when she heard shuffling and a group of people laughing.

Instantly, Stephanie took a sharp turn and entered the alley before stopping when she saw something.

A group of vegetable pirates was surrounding someone who was pinned against the wall, holding swords in their 'hands.'

Angry at them for attacking someone innocent and out in the open, Stephanie charged at them as fast as she could.

She grabbed the nearest one that is close by the back of the shirt with her right metal hand.

When she yanked back, her wrist separated from her arm as it had a long chain from inside and connected, still gripping the man's shirt.

He, on the other hand, was confused about who was behind him, trying to look behind him.

Stephanie quickly flung the pirate away from where he was standing and over the buildings.

She did not want to harm him, but instead scared him, as he was heading towards the pirate ship on the ocean.

During that moment, he was screaming at the top of his lungs as he was thrown away.

He disappeared into the distance as his screams faded away.

Once she had flung the pirate over her body, she gripped the metal chain in her left hand after it came close to her and swung it towards the other pirates who were trying to escape after seeing her toss one of their friends.

But the metal chain wrapped around them as her hand gripped the concatenation behind them.

Using her strength, she flung them over her body like a sack of potatoes, throwing them back to the ship as they screamed like the last pirate she had thrown.

After the last pirate was gone, she sighed as her metal chain collapsed on the ground, as her hands released it.

Using her powers, she reeled the metal chain back into her metal arm, as her hand connected to her wrist again from being a whip.

Turning around to the person who was pinned against the wall, she was surprised that it was another adult asparagus.

But this time, he was wearing an almost torn off red bow tie around his neck, and a monocle was by his side, the lens cracked.

There were bruises all over his body and on his face, and he looked exhausted as he was sweating.

Stephanie's stomach nervously twisted into a knot when she noticed him, worried he might already be too hurt.

"Hey," Stephanie softly spoke, stepping over to him carefully. "Are you okay?"

From the look of his body, Stephanie could tell that he slightly flinched when she spoke to him, before gently lifting his head up to see who it was.

But when he instead saw Stephanie, his pupils shrank in fear and started trembling in fear.

Immediately, Stephanie stopped for a moment when he started shaking in fear because of her, but she assured herself she could get him to trust her.

But slowly since Stephanie looked like an 'alien' to him.

So, Stephanie continued walking towards him, but carefully without scaring him more with her appearance.

She figures that he was probably afraid of her because he thinks she is going to do the same thing as the pirates.

When Stephanie was close enough to him, she reached over to him with her right hand and gently touched his side, feeling a slight jolt from him again.

After feeling that jolt from him, she pulled her hand away from him, feeling worried about him.

Had she accidentally touched a bruise on him?

...Or maybe he is afraid of her than thinking he was going to be tossed around?

Stephanie's stomach twisted again with worry and guilt, thinking she must have been the one scaring him.

But, she assured herself again and went on fixing his belongings first.

Being careful again, Stephanie gently picked up his monocle from beside his side, seeing how cracked the lens is.

"_Instaurabo,_" She spoke in Latin, gently tapping the side of the monocle with her left hand.

After she had gently tapped the side of the monocle, the lens started to repair back to its normal state, easy for the man to see.

Stephanie knelt in front of him and moved her hand close to him.

She was about to place a hand behind his head to move him up slightly, when he closed his eyes and winced, waiting for what could happen to him.

But Stephanie instead stopped after he winced, feeling sorry for him to be beaten up by a bunch of pirates for no good reason.

"Hey," Stephanie softly spoke again, getting his attention. "I fixed your monocle. Do you want it?"

He opened his eyes and glanced over at her from glancing away from her, seeing the monocle between two of Stephanie's fingers, holding it up to him.

A soft, surprised expression appeared on his face when he saw how careful Stephanie was with his monocle, but still hesitant to take it from her.

Stephanie hummed to herself softly when she noticed that he was still hesitant.

But Stephanie was still patient with him instead of losing her temper with him.

"I am going to pick you up," Stephanie spoke, opening her sweater and placing his monocle into her shirt pocket on her chest. "It's still not safe out here with Robert's pirates around. Even if I am that powerful to do that, you just saw back there, but I am still vulnerable."

He moved up slightly from lying on the ground against the wall behind his back after Stephanie explained, looking confused rather than hesitant.

"And I don't want to push you too much to trust me," Stephanie placed her hand against her chest after zipping her sweater back up. "I'm not a monster. I am a human being like you. I don't want to harm anyone, especially if they are evil."

A slightly surprised expression appeared on his face again, before glancing away from her for a moment.

He was thinking to himself about what she had said to him, even though he had seen how strong she was with those pirates.

Even with her abilities too that he does not want to know.

Stephanie patiently waited for him to answer her, rubbing the back of her left hand gently with her fingers.

After a few minutes had passed, he glanced back up at Stephanie and nodded his head.

Stephanie softly smiled and knelt to his height as he flinched in startlement.

"Oops!" Stephanie sheepishly chuckled as she stopped moving. "Sorry. Got a little fast."

A slightly confused expression appeared on his face for a moment before watching Stephanie readjust his bow tie around his neck.

Once his bow tie was readjusted, Stephanie placed her hand against his chest and said, "_Sana._"

After Stephanie said that, the bruises all over his body started to heal slowly, as her left eye gently glowed.

Minute by minute, his bruises and scratches went away with magic as Stephanie kept her hand against his chest during the time.

Once the last of his bruises were healed, Stephanie removed her hand from his chest and asked, "Can you stand up now?"

He paused for a moment and glanced down, before looking back up at Stephanie and shook his head no.

"Tired?" Stephanie asked as he nodded his head, answering her question.

Stephanie shrugged to herself gently and said, "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I have to pick you up if you can't get up."

A slightly fearful expression appeared on his face after Stephanie said that, shaking like a leaf again.

Pushing her glasses into place with a single finger, Stephanie assured, "Don't worry. I'm not that clumsy, nor hungry. I had a large breakfast earlier when I was back home."

Remembering she is teleported here from the Helpseeker, she corrected herself, "Not vegetables, to let you know."

He sighed in relief after Stephanie corrected herself, before feeling one of her hands behind his head.

Like a guinea pig, he froze when he felt Stephanie's hand behind his head before her other arm scooped him from underneath.

Once he was in Stephanie's arms, Stephanie repositioned her feet and picked him up from the ground.

Maybe it was a little too fast for him.

He yelped after he was picked up from the ground and wrapped his 'arms' around her neck, causing Stephanie to stop mid-lift.

"Sorry!" He froze again after she had stopped noticing that Stephanie looked sheepish. "It has been a long time since I have done this to someone smaller than me, no offense."

A slight chuckle came from him as Stephanie started going back to lift him from the ground, this time, a little slower than before.

Once Stephanie was at her height while carrying him in her arms, he was shaking slightly like a leaf in her arms but relaxed a little.

He continued mentally assuring himself that she was not a monster, even though he has his 'arms' around her neck safely.

But, on the other hand, he was judgmental about what she said.

Knowing that he could have stepped in, Stephanie could instantly eat him out of hunger!

He shuddered slightly at himself mentally as Stephanie turned around and started heading back to the secret hatch.

During that time, Stephanie kept a careful eye out for any more of those pirates that tried to hurt him, sneaking through the darkness as stealthily as she is.

Mentally, he was surprised at how careful Stephanie was carrying him in her arms, although he is an adult, he seemed to weigh nothing on her.

Once Stephanie got over to the secret hatch, Stephanie stopped for a moment, thinking to herself.

He was about to ask what was wrong when he felt something move from underneath him.

Confused, he glanced over at what was moving from underneath him, seeing that two arms were opening the door.

But the two pairs of arms are the ones that are holding him.

Instantly, he softly gasped when he realized that they were her second pair of arms!

He stiffened as the second pair of arms finally opened the door after a few struggling attempts, before entering inside and closing it behind her back.

Once she was inside, she repositioned him back into her first pair of arms as he rewrapped his 'arms' around her neck.

She stepped in the middle of the area, patiently waiting for something as her second pair of arms disappeared.

Before he could ask what she was waiting for, the ground collapsed from underneath Stephanie's feet, allowing them to enter a tunnel.

They slid down the tunnel for a few minutes before landing on the mattress.

Luckily, they did not land on top of anyone else who was confused about what was happening.

They were on the large table in the middle of the hidden room, playing poker with only rocks.

The kids were reading books in a corner, as Junior, on the other hand, was doing nothing.

"Hey, she's back!" Junior exclaimed, hopping up from the ground and over to her.

Stephanie slowly got up from the mattress she landed on, still carrying the man in her arms.

"She even found Archibald!" Larry added, jumping out of his chair and hopping over to her with Junior.

Another female asparagus, with a small mole on the side of her cheek, perked when she heard the name, seeing him and hopping over to him as fast as she could.

Stephanie glanced over at the man in her arms, smiling softly to herself that she had found the man named 'Archie.'

"What happened up there?" Bob asked Stephanie as Larry with Mr. Nezzer helped Archibald out of Stephanie's arms.

"Well," Stephanie began, pushing back a stray strand of hair from her face. "He was going to get seriously hurt by some pirates, but I managed to toss them away."

"How?!" exclaimed Larry, almost dropping Archibald, but luckily Mr. Nezzer caught him before he could. "They have swords that can slice you into pieces!"

Stephanie reached up to her arm with her left hand and grasped her wrist.

Gently yanking it, her hand disconnected from her arm, showing the chain from inside to them.

Their jaws dropped when they saw the chained hand as Archibald looked a little nervous.

"That's how I tossed them." Stephanie softly smiled before releasing her hand and connecting it back. "It was easy, too, since they weighed nothing to me."

All the vegetables glanced at each other as Mr. Nezzer placed Archibald down onto a chair.

"How is he, though?" Stephanie asked, shaking her head slightly from her pride.

"I'm fine," Archibald finally answered as he shakily sat down on a chair. "I just need some time to get my strength back from running away."

A soft smile appeared on Stephanie's face for a moment, before noticing that there was something off about him.

Remembering something, Stephanie unzipped her sweater and reached inside, before pulling out the monocle she placed inside.

"I forgot about this," Stephanie showed him. "You may have it back."

Archibald took his monocle back from Stephanie and placed it against the side of his eye, which slightly impressed Stephanie of how much balance there was of him keeping it on.

"Thank you," Archibald thanked her, not even looking at her from eye to eye.

A soft smile appeared on Stephanie's face after Archibald assured her he was okay, and placed his monocle on his eye, as an awkward silence filled the air.

It had lasted for a few minutes before Stephanie said, "Let's get the elephant out of the room and talk about something serious."

"What's that?" Junior asked, cocking his head slightly to the side.

"About Robert," Stephanie mentioned, pointing up to the surface. "He's going to be the king of the future if we do nothing to him."

"Are you sayin' that we should…?" Larry asked, before trailing off, and Stephanie nodded.

"We have to get up there and travel through the seven seas to send him back to his time," Stephanie nodded, finishing Larry's sentence. "And I'm not going alone on this trip."

One of the vegetables that was drinking some water did a spit-take from what Stephanie said.

The unfortunate vegetable that was sitting in front of him, looking slightly annoyed.

A sheepish expression appeared on the vegetable after the spit-take, as the other sighed, picking up a napkin and wiping the water spit off of him.

"What are you, crazy?!" exclaimed Bob. "Going up there and defeat Robert?! That's a sign of death!"

"He'll crush us like coconuts!" nodded another vegetable.

He is a gourd with a mustache and wears a beige safari-like hat on top of his head that is covering his eyes and wearing a white shirt.

"I know," nodded Stephanie. "And he's going to rule the earth if we do nothing to stop him."

"Well," Bob glanced away before hopping away from Stephanie. "If you're going to risk your life to defeat him, we're staying here!"

Stephanie gritted her teeth and placed a hand against her temple, before snapping at them angrily, "Listen! Don't all of you love living in peace? Don't you all want to live out of hiding? This is the reason you need to fight back! Right now, you all are acting like mice!"

They all looked somewhat surprised from the snap Stephanie said before she sighed and said, slightly calmly, "Fine. Live here and watch your homes destroyed by that maniac. I'm sorry I suck at empathizing with your first world problems."

The kids winced from the roast Stephanie said to them as the adults' cheeks blushed a shameful shade of different colors on their skins before Stephanie walked past them and towards the exit.

"I'm going out there like it or not," Stephanie said firmly, before opening the door and exiting out of the secret hatch.

After Stephanie had left, everyone glanced at each other, rethinking to themselves about what Stephanie said.

She was right; it was their homes, and all they were doing was watching it all get destroyed by a fearsome pirate.

Meanwhile, Stephanie stopped for a moment after walking out of the hatch, her hands clenched with anger.

She was angry that they are being scared over a pirate from the past.

It is easy to defeat him with their technology, but it seemed to be scary to them.

Stephanie reached into her pocket and pulled out the Helpseeker, wondering to herself for a moment.

She wonders if the Helpseeker did send her to a world that needs help.

But all she is getting is whiny and scared vegetables that do nothing against a villain.

Sighing, Stephanie placed the Helpseeker back into her pocket and marched straight towards the beach where she could create a boat to leave the city to fight against the pirate responsible for the chaos.

1


	4. Shipbuilding

Stephanie continued sketching out what type of ship she is going to make, using the first finger of her finger after it had transformed into a pencil.

But no matter how many times Stephanie sketched out any ideas for a ship, she gets stuck with each one on the lack of wood or metal to complete it.

To add, she does not know how long it is going to take either.

A groan came to Stephanie as she rubbed her forehead, still trying to think of another idea as the blueprint had some drawings of the halfway drawn ship.

Even though Stephanie is using half of her metal brain to help her with this shipbuilding, it was not calculating the right things or tools for it.

Ever since Stephanie had snapped at the townspeople for refusing to help her on her adventure, Stephanie decided to do everything by herself without their help.

Instead, Stephanie ironically got stuck in an artist's block with what to do next.

Before Stephanie could move onto Plan B, someone appeared next to her, wearing that identical hat.

Glancing over to those who came up to her side, Stephanie noticed it was Junior.

But by his side is a carrot with blonde hair that is braided in two pigtails and has freckles.

Also by her side is a green scallion with brown hair, a pink nose, and wears a pair of glasses along with a shirt and pants.

A small pea with freckles was next to her side, staring up at Stephanie with awe.

"What is it, Junior?" Stephanie asked, turning her body towards him and kneeling at the little girls, and the pea flinched as Stephanie moved down towards Junior.

They hopped away from him slightly, as the carrot hid behind Junior out of fear of her.

"Nothing," Junior sighed. "I came here to apologize for what the townspeople are doing. We are scared of Robert and were just mice compared to him."

Stephanie sighed to herself and glanced to the side, feeling slightly ashamed of roasting them for being cowards.

"But," Junior added, causing Stephanie to glance back at him. "I am surprised you got the guts to stand up to an entire town's worth of people to get them out of their shells."

A soft smile appeared on Stephanie's face, and a soft neon pink blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Thank you, Junior." Stephanie thanked before glancing over at the blank blueprint. "Random question; do you know anything about building ships?"

Junior's smile fell after Stephanie asked as she looked concerned about the expression change on his face.

"Not really," Junior denied as he shook his head no. "I only know how to make model ships from my dad."

"And," added the little girl, looking a little shy in front of her, still hiding from Stephanie. "I know nothing about it, either."

The other two nodded in agreement, glancing at each other before back over at Stephanie.

Stephanie gently facepalmed to herself, smacking her forehead with her metal hand, feeling like a sitting duck now that she does not have anyone helping besides Junior.

A sheepish blush appeared on Junior's cheeks as he glanced away from Stephanie, which was not red, but a deep green color.

It was unusual for that color of blush, but Stephanie did not mind it since her blush is in neon pink.

Then Junior noticed something in the distance from behind Stephanie's back.

"Stephanie!" He 'grabbed' Stephanie's sleeve of her sweater and gently 'tugged' on it, snapping Stephanie out of facepalming herself and looking at him. "Look!"

Stephanie glanced over at what he was looking at, seeing someone appearing from over the edge of the horizon.

To her slight surprise, it was Bob himself, carrying some wood, along with a toolbox by his side.

When he got up to Stephanie, Stephanie turned her body over to Bob, crossing her arms over her chest as she had a slightly amused smirk on her face.

"You change your mind now?" Stephanie sarcastically asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes," Bob nodded, before mentioning it over to the horizon with a nod of his head. "We did."

Stephanie cocked an eyebrow at him in confusion, glanced up again, and saw more vegetables coming over to where Stephanie was, carrying items in their hands.

Some of them were carrying telescopes, bathtubs, wood, metal, and lots of fabric in their 'hands.'

"Whoa," Stephanie spoke, sounding impressed with her words getting through them. "Now that's teamwork!"

A soft smile appeared on Bob's face as everyone came over to Stephanie, as one of them asked, "Now what?"

Stephanie bit the bottom of her lip with her teeth as a sheepish expression appeared on her face.

Luckily she avoided using her canines to make any more scars on her outer lips instead.

Slowly, Stephanie glanced over at the halfway sketched blueprint behind her on the table.

Noticing Stephanie's sheepish expression on her face, Larry walked over to the table behind her and looked at what she drew.

"It's only half of the ship," Larry said, picking it up and glancing front and back.

"I know," Stephanie sighed before getting up to her height from kneeling down to the childrens' height.

She gently rubbed her temple in slight irritation with her fingertips.

"I was trying to think of a ship," Stephanie explained as she explained with her hands. "That is big enough to carry as many items inside for the adventure."

She rubbed the back of her neck with her right hand underneath her hair.

"But the problem is we don't have factories to make it." Stephanie groaned.

"Robert did destroy most of it," the elderly grape nodded as he hopped over to them, before saying, "But we can build one out of scratch!"

That line somehow kicked Stephanie's creative gears and turned back around to the blueprint, transforming the first finger of her right hand back into a pencil.

"What are you doing?" Archibald asked, watching as Stephanie sketched.

"One minute, please," Stephanie asked in return, before going back to sketching.

After a few minutes passed, Stephanie turned back around to everyone, showing them the blueprint she drew.

It was a large boat diagram but looked like it had some building parts to it.

It was also taller than an ordinary cruise ship, mixed with a pirate ship.

"Yikes." one of the vegetables remarked. "That's a monster!"

"How in the world are we going to make that?!" exclaimed the gourd. "It's going to take about three or six months to make that!"

Stephanie winked and mentioned her left arm as they remembered her powers as they saw it.

"You're going to be all Merlin on it?" joked Bob.

"Yes," chuckled Stephanie. "All we need to do is to gather the pieces first."

She paused for a moment about what Bob joked about before smiling softly.

"And I am going to be all Merlin on it." Stephanie flicked her wrist slightly as a spark of light came from it before stopping.

A soft, surprised expression appeared on everyone's faces after Stephanie showed off a little of her magic powers to them.

She gently winked at them with her left eye while sticking out her tongue a little, showing some bits of her scars.

"You'll see." Stephanie grinned, revealing some of her teeth through her lips.

A slightly suspicious expression appeared on Archibald's face after Stephanie grinned, feeling unsure of what she was planning.

She smirked slightly to herself before asking, "Now, can you all please get about eight or nine pieces of screws?"

Everyone nodded their heads and went off, leaving Stephanie with the slightly sketched out blueprint on the table.

But when she turned around, she was surprised to see a veggie looking at the blueprints Stephanie was working on.

He looked like a broccoli, but with freckles and has short 'hair' and wears a light blue shirt with blue jeans.

In his 'hand,' he has a pencil and was re-sketching what Stephanie has drawn out, looking like he is in deep thought.

"Uh, excuse me?" Stephanie spoke, startling him as he jumped.

When he noticed Stephanie, he started shaking a little as the pencil in his 'hand' dropped.

"Uh, I-I'm sorry if I changed something wrong," he stammered while hopping away from her, as Stephanie looked at the new sketch. "I-I noticed that the weight balance is slightly off, and-"

"I like this!" Stephanie beamed, pointing to the artwork.

He blinked a few times after Stephanie complimented his work.

"Excuse me?" he asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"The artwork!" Stephanie smiled, mentioning the sketch in her hand on the blueprint. "I like it! It suits the ship perfectly, and the weight looks balanced! Even if we do not have enough items to make the ship, it is going to work!"

A slight blush appeared on his cheeks after Stephanie appreciated his work, before asking, "Excuse me for being a little rude, but what's your name?"

He smiled softly and answered, "Shem, Shem is my name."

Stephanie softly giggled and said, "My name is Stephanie, Stephanie Nova Rose Allen! But you could call me Stephanie."

He nodded his head slightly and gently swayed his body from side to side.

Stephanie knows what is going on and went along with it despite being a little shy.

Bob came up beside her while carrying some power tools in his 'hands.'

"My name is Bob," Bob smiled as he nodded to Stephanie. "Bob the tomato."

"Pleased to meet you," Stephanie greeted, waving her hand to him.

Bob smiled softly and headed over to where the skeleton of the ship was being built.

Stephanie followed Bob with Shem, who is carrying the blueprints in his 'hands.'

"🎵Gonna get things rollin', I know we can,🎵" Bob started singing, before climbing a ladder. "🎵Let's get things goin' 'cause we've got a plan.🎵"

Somehow, instead of being unamused about it, Stephanie oddly enjoys the singing from the people.

Bob placed a screw in the corner of a plank of wood, holding it in place as he picked up the drill from by his side.

"🎵Put it up together till the job is done,🎵" Bob continued singing, with a smile on his face as he drilled the screw in to keep the wood secured. "🎵This should be easy, it should be fun.🎵"

Stephanie gently tapped her foot against the surface of the boat in the song's rhythm, as Larry sang along with him, after introducing himself to Stephanie.

"🎵Work with me,🎵" they both sang simultaneously.

Stephanie glanced to the side in thought, before noticing a group of peas glancing around for something.

But stared out into the ocean as they all shuddered simultaneously.

"🎵Can't get across,🎵" Larry sang after Bob, as Stephanie and Shem followed. "🎵It's sink or swim.🎵"

Shem glanced out to the peas and whistled, getting their attention as they glanced up at him.

"🎵We'll build this boat,🎵" Larry mentioned to it with a nod of his hammer in his 'hand,' smiling softly. "🎵It's the next best thing.🎵"

The peas glanced at each other before back over at Stephanie and the others, nodding in agreement.

"🎵We're better together,🎵" Larry and peas sang, as they grabbed some tools and started working. "🎵All is one.🎵"

Stephanie stepped aside to allow the peas to help Larry, before noticing a small toy was following behind them, carrying some items too.

His skin is a light tan, and he wears blue overalls with white buttons and a white undershirt.

He also has brown shoes and ears with a blue hat on his short brown hair.

Unlike most toys, he has five fingers instead of a fingerless hand, almost like an actual living doll.

The small toy introduced him to Stephanie as Buzzsaw Louie but just told Stephanie to call him Louie.

"🎵With a little help, it'll get this done, work with me.🎵" Bob joined in the singing, as Stephanie watched along with Shem, nodding their heads in the song's rhythm.

"🎵Work with me,🎵" the other vegetables joined in the singing, carrying some items towards the ship, as some of them were necessary, but Stephanie allowed some unnecessary ones. "🎵I will work with you, maybe, we just see what we can do,🎵"

"🎵It's true, it's true, it's true, it's true,🎵" the singing continued, as more appeared and started helping. "🎵Work with me, I'll work with you.🎵"

Stephanie smiled softly while listening to the song, watching as the people introduced themselves to Stephanie while working on building the ship.

Shem was still working on the blueprint, nodding his head to the rhythm of the song while Mr. Beet was next to him.

"🎵We're gonna get there, need a little time,🎵" Shem sang, surprising Stephanie slightly with his voice. "🎵You give me yours,🎵" he nodded towards Mr. Beet, as he agreed back towards him, singing, "🎵I give you mine.🎵"

Even Mr. Beet's voice surprised Stephanie, too, since both he and Shem's are magnificent.

They turned back towards the work, and Shem headed towards Stephanie.

Still singing along with Mr. Beet as she glanced at the work he had made in her hand.

"🎵Let's work together, till the end,🎵" they both sang simultaneously. "🎵All we need is some help from my friend.🎵"

A soft smile appeared on Stephanie's face as she listened to the song from everyone while helping with the smaller vegetables by picking them up and holding them.

"🎵Work with me, I will,🎵" the song continued, singing as the ship progressed more quickly. "🎵Work with you, maybe, we just see what we can do,🎵"

Stephanie even helped Louie, too, by asking him if he needed some help, even by picking him up to reach certain items that he could not stretch out to.

"🎵It's true, it's true, it's true, it's true,🎵" the people sang, as Stephanie continued listening to the song, but watched how the progress is going. "🎵Work with me, I'll work with you.🎵"

The girls were sewing up large pieces of fabric together to make a large sail for the ship, along with the kids.

Tar was placed into the holes that were left behind so the ship would not sink along the way.

They even placed down many chairs in the main room for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

With Louie by their side, he can easily trim parts of the ship that are poking out, with his buzzsaw on his right hand.

The navigation deck has all the tools that they need to navigate to where they are going.

Slowly, the ship was getting ready to take off as the hours passed by.

After the last of the sails had been on, they finished the song before sailing off.

"🎵Work with me, I will,🎵" they sang together as Stephanie listened to their song, tapping her foot against the ground in rhythm.

The song was delightful in her options, including the people's voices too.

She kept nodding her head to the rhythm of the song and listened to the voices.

But she did not want to sing along because of her thought of her voice.

"🎵Work with me, you maybe, we will see just what we can do, work with me,🎵" The song continued. "🎵I will work with you, maybe, we will see just what we can do.🎵"

In harmony, the peas sang, "🎵It's true.🎵" together, before Shem finished, "🎵Work with me, I'll work with you.🎵"

Once the ship had finished being built, Stephanie felt nervous about what could happen next if it was in the ocean water.

But Shem came up to her side and placed a 'hand' on Stephanie's back.

"Don't worry," Shem assured her. "We'll test it."

Stephanie hesitated for a moment after Shem assured her, but took a deep breath and nodded her head.

Stephanie stepped up to the side of the boat, before saying to everyone else behind her, "Come here and help me push it into the ocean!"

She placed both of her hands on the side of the boat and waited patiently for everyone else.

Everyone nodded and stepped up to help Stephanie, placing their bodies against the side of the ship.

"Okay," Stephanie smiled to herself and started pushing. "Push with all your might!"

Everyone obeyed what Stephanie said and pushed with all their might, sending the boat into the ocean, as Stephanie mentally prayed to herself that it would float.

Just as it landed in the ocean, it had floated in the water just as Stephanie prayed to herself.

There were no signs of sudden sinking or holes either.

Everyone cheered in happiness that they have created something that is out of the ordinary and unusual but manages to make it afloat.

Stephanie felt proud of herself for making a great ship before hugging Shem.

He was startled when Stephanie hugged him but noticed she hugged him out of happiness for the ship.

"We did it!" Stephanie beamed as she smiled brightly. "We made a ship together out of scratch!"

Shem blushed slightly from the cheer Stephanie gave, before returning the hug to Stephanie.

After the ship had passed the test, everyone boarded the boat, as they were given their rooms to stay inside.

Stephanie got the top room for her since she had created the ship, including the captain's cabin.

She thanked the veggies for giving her the room but gave half the credit to Shem for helping her make the blueprint.

The credit he received from Stephanie caused him to stammer out of shock as his expression looked astounded.

During her walk towards the room, Shem ran up to Stephanie as fast as he could, calling out, "Hey! Hey, wait!"

Stephanie heard his voice and stopped, turning around, and noticed Shem hopping over to her.

"Ah, Shem!" Stephanie softly smiled as he stopped, taking a breath. "What's wrong?"

Shem answered Stephanie's question after breathing for a few minutes, "Why did you give me credit for the ship? It was your idea!"

Stephanie blinked a few times after Shem asked, before smiling softly as a mother would.

"Because, without your help," Stephanie answered, placing her hand on where his shoulder is. "We would've been stuck with an incomplete idea."

A light deep green blush appeared on Shem's cheeks after Stephanie explained to him why she gave him credit for helping her as she removed her hand from his shoulder.

"Oh, Stephanie!" Bob hopped over to her as Stephanie glanced over at him. "I forgot, you need to be on the deck to command Peach to go."

"Who's Peach?" Stephanie asked, cocking her head to the side slightly in confusion.

"He's a smart and friendly person!" Bob answered. "But he can be a little shy and hides when someone comes up to him. Meet me on the deck."

Stephanie nodded her head, and Bob left, along with Shem behind him.

Finally, Stephanie opened the door to her room and placed down a few items before heading out to the deck.

During that time, she looked around for anyone by the name of 'Peach.'

Once Stephanie reached the deck, she could see the outside ocean, and the island where everyone lived is miles away from behind them.

But there is still no Peach around.

'Where is he?' Stephanie thought to herself, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand.

Larry walked over to her side and noticed the confused expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the confused expression on Stephanie's face.

"I still can't find Peach." Stephanie sighed. "I know that Bob said that he hides, but I wonder where."

"I know where he is!" Bob smiled before turning around towards the building. "Do you see that large middle window?"

Stephanie glanced up at the large window and nodded her head, looking back over at Bob.

Clearing his throat, Bob called out to the window as loud as he could, "Are you there, Peach?"

A few minutes passed before something muffled from behind the window.

Confused expressions appeared on Larry's and Stephanie's faces before Bob sighed and rolled his eyes.

"We can't hear you, Peach!" Bob called again to the muffled figure.

The window opened, and a head popped out from the other side.

It was a peach, but with short messy dark orange hair, freckles, and auburn eye color.

"I said I'm here!" he repeated himself, before noticing Stephanie.

A shy blush appeared on his cheeks, and he ducked down a little over the side.

"Don't worry, Peach!" Bob assured. "She's not that dangerous! All we need to do is to navigate to where we are going!"

"Okay!" Peach called from behind the window ledge. "Where do you want to go, ma'am?"

Stephanie softly smiled and thought to herself, turning her body around and placing a finger against her chin in thought.

"Did… anyone else come from the eighteenth century?" Stephanie asked, turning around. "Or, was it only Robert?"

Pa Grape and Mr. Lunt hopped over to Stephanie, as she looked a little curious.

"Well, it's a long story," Pa Grape sighed. "But, to make it short, me, Larry, and Mr. Lunt were taken back to the eighteenth century by that Helpseeker you found. We met Princess Eloise with her butler after we were teleported. Before we came, their uncle, Robert, had kidnapped her brother, Prince Alexander."

"We were lazy, stupid," Mr. Lunt added, before Larry joined along with him, "And don't forget scared."

"Yes," nodded Pa Grape. "We were those types of people, not like the ones that Eloise is thinking of."

Stephanie gently cocked her head to the side.

"But, you changed during the adventure, right?" Stephanie asked.

"Yes, we did!" nodded Larry. "And we saved the Prince and Princess from Robert, and defeated him, twice!"

Stephanie chuckled softly and said, "Then, you all are willingly brave enough to face him, hmm?"

All three veggies nodded their heads as Stephanie glanced out into the open.

"Then," Stephanie spoke, turning around towards the three veggies again. "Let's save the Prince and Princess!"

They glanced at each other for a moment, before back at Stephanie nodding their heads.

Stephanie turned to Peach from the window and called, "Where's the next island, Peach?"

Muffled came from the window, which was closed, and Stephanie gently sighed while smiling.

"We can't hear you, Peach!" Stephanie called again.

The window opened again, and Peach called out, "The nearest island there is, is The Albatross Islands! It's forty miles out into the open ocean. Northeast from here!"

Stephanie shrugged gently to herself about it, and called out, "Set the course for that island and let's set sail!"

Turning around towards the sails, she called out, "Release the sails!"

The people up the masts around where the sails were nodded in agreement after Stephanie called out to them and untied the ropes, releasing the sails as the wind caught hold of them and began the adventure.

But Stephanie mentally prays to herself that the Prince and Princess's lives are safe.

1


	5. Rescue Mission Round 2

The trip to Albatross Islands took a few days to reach it, but Stephanie did not mind it.

She liked the smell of the sea and the wind blowing in her face.

The gentle rocking of the ship reminded her of a baby's cradle when she was a baby.

It somehow also reminded her of her home when she used to ride the ferry to visit her Aunt and her twin cousins.

The memory was sad for Stephanie as it reminded her of her home, which she longingly misses.

Stephanie is slumped against the rails, thinking about her home as her right hand was against her cheek.

During that minute, Bob was hopping over to where Stephanie was to talk to her when he stopped.

Bob noticed Stephanie slumped against the rails, her hand against her cheek.

But the strangest thing is her hair... was in a hazelnut brown color as the wires were in the same colors too.

"Stephanie?" he asked, hopping closer to her.

She heard him calling out her name and moved up from slumping against the rails, glancing over to him.

Her wires turned back into the multicolors they were before, confusing Bob more, even without expressing it.

"Are you seasick?" Bob worriedly asked.

"No, not really," Stephanie softly answered, shaking her head no. "I was just thinking about something."

"About what?" Bob asked, cocking his body to the side.

Stephanie hesitated after Bob asked, glancing away from him.

"I… rather not answer that." Stephanie slowly spoke, her voice sounding sad.

Bob noticed the tone in her voice and decided not to say anything further, knowing it would make things out of hand if he continued asking.

Then, muffled mumbling came from the window, perking Stephanie's attention from Bob and glanced over at the window.

"We can't hear you, Peach!" Stephanie called over to the window.

The window opened, and the same head poked out, saying while blushing, "Sorry! I kept forgetting about that!"

He cleared his throat and repeated what he had said earlier.

"I said we're land ho!" He used a stick to point at the front of the ship since they had no hands.

Bob and Stephanie glanced in front, peering through the mist and seeing an island forming slowly through the fog.

"Fun Fact," Peach spoke. "The island is shaped like an Albatross and has millions of them over there!"

Stephanie smiled softly to herself about the fun facts about the island and how many birds there are, but then her sapphire vision kicked in again.

In the vision, it showed water bombs spread across the surface of the water, waiting for any ships to come.

Their ship appeared through the mist and bumped into the bombs, exploding into millions of pieces.

After the image had shown the future vision, she distantly heard Bob repeatedly call out her name, shaking her leg with his 'hands.'

"Stephanie!" he called as he shook her pant leg. "What happened to-!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Stephanie quickly flicked her hand through the air in a straight line, as her left eye glowed a light blue color.

After she flicked her hand, the boat abruptly stopped, as the anchor automatically dropped deeply into the ocean water and hooked onto a rock.

Everyone inside the ship was startled from the sudden halt, being flung forward and landing either side-first, front first, or back first.

"What was that?!" exclaimed Larry, after catching Petunia from falling over.

Outside, Bob was clutching onto Stephanie's pant leg after the ship abruptly stopped.

Stephanie clenched the rails of the ship but was released after the boat stopped.

"What happened?!" Bob called out to Peach from the other side of the window, releasing Stephanie's pant leg.

A muffled voice muffledly spoke through the window, before Bob called out again, "I can't hear you, Peach!"

The window opened after Bob called out to Peach, and the same head popped out from the other side.

"Sorry!" He called down to Bob from the window and poked his head through. "I said the ship's anchor was suddenly dropped into the water, even though we are thirty feet away from the island!"

Bob stammered a little as everyone else stepped outside with slightly irritated and confused expressions on their faces.

"What happened, Bob?" Pa Grape asked.

"Someone put the anchor down and stopped the ship without warning any of us," Bob explained, glancing once out to the ocean as the mist lifted a little. "And… Oh, dear."

Bob took a second glance after looking for the first time, as everyone looked over at what he was looking at, seeing the bombs floating in the water, merely inches away from where they were going to hit them.

"If we did not notice them, we would've been blown sky-high!" Junior exclaimed, shuddering softly in fear to himself from the thought in his mind.

Everyone nodded in agreement as others paled slightly with worry, not wanting to be barbecued.

Stephanie, on the other hand, was staring out into the open, wondering to herself about the prince and princess.

Since bombs are blocking their way and could be heavily guarded, it could be a risky situation, especially when there are children at stake!

Pushing her glasses into place, Stephanie thought of another way through the forest, until she noticed the shadow of Bob.

An idea sparked in Stephanie's mind, as a soft smile appeared on her face.

"Well, we're done for," groaned Mr. Nezzer. "There's no way to go through all that!"

Everyone mumbled in agreement before Stephanie's long brown hair with wires turned pitch black.

A startled gasp erupted through the crowd as they backed away from Stephanie, watching as her hair turned colors.

It started from the roots of the top of her head and went down to the ends.

The sudden color change did the same thing to her sweater, pants, and shoes.

Bob knew this had happened before as he watched the transformation finish.

Because he was standing right next to her when Stephanie was looking out into the open sea.

Her hair turned white, and her eyes were glazed over as he was talking to her.

She seemed to be hypnotized by something in her mind that no one else could see other than her.

"Uh, Stephanie?" Junior called over to her. "What is happening to your hair?"

Stephanie did not answer Junior's question, but glanced over at him once, revealing the scleras of her eyes were pitch black, and her eyes were in white.

Her pupils were like cat's eyes and looked scary to the children as they hopped back.

Everyone shuddered by the expression on her face, looking emotionless than herself.

Without a single word, Stephanie turned back around to the front of the ship.

As she turned back to the front of the ship, Stephanie faded into her shadow underneath her feet.

Everyone watched with surprise after she had disappeared, but the shadow did not.

Then, they watched as Stephanie's shadow went over the edge of the boat and across the water, headed straight towards the fortress.

"What was that?!" exclaimed Archibald as they were huddled in a group after seeing Stephanie's sudden 'change.'

"I don't know," Bob answered, shuddering slightly. "But I am having second-thoughts about Stephanie. I don't think she is who she is anymore."

* * *

I continued running through the shadow realm, heading towards Robert's fortress on the island, running across the vast ocean water as if it was the ground itself.

Since I can travel through the shadows by will, it was easy for me to cross the ocean without having to bump into the bombs that are floating on the ocean's surface.

They pass through my legs as if they were made of air, not blowing up instantly by the first contact.

I sped towards the island like a bullet, not stopping for anything, but I have one mission: rescue the prince and princess.

As soon as my foot touched the sand of the island, I stopped running and skidded for a moment.

Luckily, I went to a halt before crashing into a rock or into a pile of sand.

Once I had stopped, I glanced around for a moment, before glancing up at the mountain, seeing the fortress.

It looked almost like Bowser's fortress, but without his face imprinted all over his walls and looked darker and less spiky.

The fortress was near the ocean water, too, which is easier for me than having to sneak out.

Unfazed, I walked over to the locked door of the fortress that is hidden away by some bushes, noticing it was unguarded.

Shrugging to myself, I passed through the door automatically, like a ghost roaming the earth after death.

After passing through the door, I had successfully entered the fortress, seeing there were few guards inside, but there were mostly some lit touches to guide other pirates to rooms or chambers.

I walked down the hallway calmly, glancing around at the decor Robert has.

Joking to myself that he has an excellent 'taste' at picking out the colors.

After I had joked a little about the decor, I stopped walking for a moment, placing a hand on my chin in thought of where the dungeon could be.

Usually, the dungeon is deep, deep underground with no light inside, and filled with torture devices inside.

The hair on the back of my neck prickled from the thought of Robert torturing the poor prince and princess.

Shaking the feelings out of my head, I focused on what I was doing, blinking once as I switched my vision to my 'robot vision.'

In that vision, it showed a diagram of the hallway I was inside, before zooming out.

Once it had zoomed out, it revealed where I was from above the fortress.

Zooming out more, I searched around for a moment for the dungeon, before finding it, just how I had predicted.

It was deep underground, with no light inside, but torches instead, and to my relief, there were no torture devices inside either.

I drew out where to go to the dungeon before switching back to my normal vision.

Pushing up the sleeve of my right hand, I swiped my two fingers across the front of my arm, revealing a screen as it lit up.

The diagram of Robert's fortress appeared on the screen, before showing me the trail of which way to go to the place.

Smirking to myself, I followed the map on my arm around the forest, heading towards the dungeon.

But, during my way to the dungeon, I stopped by a door when I heard voices, mumbling to themselves about something.

Curious, I leaned my head slightly, overhearing what the voices were saying.

"Are ye sure ye wanted t' do that, Captain?" the first voice asked, sounding confused.

"O' course!" snapped a second voice.

I guessed that was Roberts' voice by the sounds of it.

"'Tis much easier that way!" Robert snapped again. "Wit' all o' th' gold from each country I 'ave placed in me metal grasp, I would rule th' world!"

I felt surprised about that line as he continued saying, wondering about the other countries that could be more powerful than him.

"Even wit' all th' advanced technology in this time o' th' year, I would be invincible!" Robert gloated, before laughing an evil laugh.

But then he started coughing after doing his 'evil' laugh.

"I be gettin' too ole fer this." Robert coughed.

I rolled my eyes after he had stopped laughing, feeling imitated about what it was going to do.

Someday soon, we'll stop him for good and send him back to his time!

And I'll be home, too, and cook some food!

…Maybe lay off the fruits and vegetables for a while too.

After overhearing the conversation between Robert and another pirate, a thought came into my mind.

It was about the blueprints and the plans he had prepared for the next attack or to plunder a village.

If I could mess with them, maybe I would stop him from doing any more damage!

So, being as careful as I could, I passed through the door Robert was behind and noticed that the room was luckily empty.

Smirking to myself, I passed through and pushed my glasses into position, going to my mischief self.

I messed with Robert's papers by scribbling something else on it, mostly writing some nonsense on it too, and looked through the blueprints of other projects.

Being messy, I erased most of the white pencil work and scribbled some artistic designs on it.

Once I was done with my mischievousness, I stopped when I noticed a strange blueprint that had a different project on it.

Picking it up from the table, I looked at what it reads, showing that it was almost identical to a Skylander's portal.

Except it had a strange gemstone in the middle that had many question marks on it.

To my surprise, the title of the project reads, "Future Teleporter."

So this is how he got teleported back into the past!

Smirking, I folded the blueprint into an origami dragon, before placing the dragon in my sweater's pocket for safekeeping.

Once I folded the blueprint of the project into my pocket, I passed back out of the door and glanced side to side to check for any more pirates coming my way.

After checking, I continued walking down the hallway by following the map on my arm before finally reaching the destination.

Once I had reached the destination, I turned off the map on my arm and pulled my sleeve down over it.

Poking my head through the gate that blocks the dungeon, I looked around for any signs of the prince or the princess, feeling worried and weary they still might be alive.

Finally, something white passed by the gate at the far back of the dungeon.

It perked my senses that someone or something is in the dungeon and in that cell.

Passing through the gate, I went over to where I saw the white pass by.

Once I reached the cell, I was surprised to see that there were three instead of two.

The first wears a white silk dress with a pink bow on the back and has lace outlining on the dress.

She wears pearl earrings and has a small nose with long, curly blonde hair and eyelashes, which are also blonde, and she wears another pink bow, but it is tied to her blonde hair.

The second has blonde hair like his sister, but taller than her too.

He has short blond hair with sideburns and a ponytail, and his outfit is a white collared shirt, a red cloth around his waist, and blue pants.

Kinda cute, in my opinion.

Shaking off the cuteness, I entered inside the cell and cleared my throat.

It did not get their attention as they glanced around, looking hopeless.

Feeling sorry for them, I cleared my throat again, this time louder.

That finally got their attention.

They perked when they heard my voice, glancing around for the person responsible for it.

"_**Look down, please,**_" I asked.

Since I am in my shadow form, I sound a little deep from my original voice.

They looked down after I had asked, seeing me in my shadow form, looking confused.

Of course, they might think I am an invisible person who ironically shows his shadow, but this shadow might have eyes.

"What in the world-?" spoke the second kid, before I moved my hands up from the 'ground,' pushing myself halfway out of the shadow realm.

They looked surprised to see me popping out of the shadow realm, thinking I might be some 'magic' user.

But they could be half right.

And, to add, the shadow realm is colorless and could not feel what other people are feeling, except through their shadows.

"_**Don't be afraid, little ones,**_" I assured them calmly. "_**I am not dangerous. I am here to rescue you all.**_"

"Wh-Who sent you?" stammered the little princess.

"_**I sent myself,**_" I answered calmly. "_**But do you know anyone by the name of Pa Grape?**_"

"You mean George?" the princess asked again, cocking an eyebrow.

"_**Well, yes,**_" I sighed, nodding my head.

"I remember him!" she nodded. "Elliot and Sedgewick came to rescue us once, too!"

I smiled softly and explained, "_**Well, they are waiting for all of you on the other side of the ocean. The boat we had created cannot cross through the bombs that Robert scattered around his island. To add, I cannot make the ship go into the shadow realm that my other half is inside.**_"

I mentioned the ground where my other half is in the shadow realm.

"Is the ship too big?" the prince asked.

I thought to myself while 'ehh' noise and making a so-so mention with my hand.

"_**Not only that, but many people on board could also get lost too if I pull the ship back into the normal realm too early or too late,**_" I added. "_**There are many consequences of being a shadow, too.**_"

They all glanced at each other in thought, as I rubbed the side of my head.

"_**I hate being rude, but we are on a tight schedule, so I need you all to-**_" before I could finish my sentence, a door slammed open, and Robert's voice said, "Time's up!"

I flinched slightly from the sudden voice of Robert, knowing he might attack me at this point.

Glancing back over at the two, I sighed and said, "_**Sorry.**_" before quickly using my stretching powers to wrap my arms around them and yanking them into the shadow realm with me.

After yanking them into the shadow realm with me, they were stammering and squirming in my grasp, trying to ask what I was doing when Robert appeared in front of the cell.

They immediately went quiet after seeing him appear.

Now, I am surprised to see him.

He has a body made of mechanical parts, mostly looked like a human's body, but mashed with a barrel and a peg leg.

There is a claw for one hand as the other has a glove.

On top of his hat, he has a gear-shaped symbol with two wrenches crossed over.

He looked confused when he noticed both the princes and princess were gone.

"Where are they?!" he bellowed, slamming his fist against the cell.

He turned around to the goon and snapped, "Find them at once!"

After that, they scrambled to find the missing victims as he stomped away.

I turned around a little after he had stomped away, sighing in relief.

"_**That was close.**_" I sighed in relief as I glanced back over at the two. "_**Thank gosh, you both were quiet.**_"

"Why didn't he see us?" the prince asked, looking confused and worried.

"_**Because we are in the shadow realm,**_" I answered, walking through the cell's gate, phasing through with the prince and princess in my arms. "_**It's a place where no one can see you or feel you.**_"

I paused a little as I walked down the room and exited out of the dungeon.

"_**Maybe feel you, because you could do something to their shadows,**_" I added.

"Like what?" The prince asked.

"_**Hmm, maybe poking at him, yanking his hair,**_" I described. "_**You could do about anything to the person you wish to do, but there's something about that.**_"

They all cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

"_**A big blast from a cannon or anything else strong might push you out of the shadow realm easily if-**_" Before I could continue talking, a massive blast happened just as after I had said it.

It caused me to be pushed out of the shadow realm with the prince and princess.

I collapsed on the concrete ground with a thud, as the other three collapsed somewhere else.

"Ye idiot!" Robert yelled. "Are ye tryin' t' kill us?!"

"Sorry!" called a voice, as I slowly got up from the ground with my hands and knees. "I saw a spider!"

I blinked a few times and shook my head before glancing up and seeing Robert the Terrible in front of me.

Instantly, he took out his sword from his sheath and held it close to my neck.

"Ahoy," He smirked. "Who's this?"

I was unfazed by the fact that there was a knife close to my neck, as I could guess the kids were grabbed before they could run away.

"She's our hero," the princess answered.

He scoffed after the princess had answered his question, staring at me with hatred and judgment.

"She does nah look like any o' us," he smirked. "She looked like some freak."

I glared at him after he had called me a 'freak,' clenching my hand.

"_**What did you call me?**_" I demanded, baring my teeth slightly.

Unfazed, he shrugged his mechanical arms, responding, "Ye didn' hear me? I called ye a fr-"

Before he could finish his sentence, I lost my temper with him like that, grabbing his sword near my neck with my left hand, snapping it into nothing.

He looked surprised after I had snapped the sword into nothing, before grabbing his shoulder belt and yanking him towards me with a powerful force.

Without yelling at him to not call me that again, I delivered a punch to his mechanical body's chest, launching him through the door and crashed in the distance.

Once he was out of my way, I turned to the three pirates who had the princes and princess, asking as I showed my claws, "_**Who wants to be next in line?**_"

To my interest, they dropped their swords and turned the other way, hopping away from the scenery as fast as they could.

Sighing, I sheathed my claws and said, while mentioning the kids, "_**Come on! We have to keep going!**_"

They nodded and ran up to me as I wrapped my arms around them, entering the shadow world again.

Once I had re-entered the shadow world, I ran as fast as I could while carrying the kids in my arms, and this time, I kept a careful eye out for any cannonballs that could toss us out of the shadow world.

I could oddly feel their hands gripping onto my sweater with their 'hands,' feeling slightly scared about my speed.

I wanted to slow down for them, so they would not feel scared of the speed I have.

But I ignored it and continued running back towards the ship.

Once I had reached the beach, I heard Robert's voice calling out, "Fire th' cannonballs! Aim them down at th' ground!"

I perked after hearing that and glanced over my shoulder a little, watching as cannonballs were shot towards me.

Luckily, I managed to dodge them before they could hit us, then running across the surface of the water.

Glancing up, I could see the veggies glancing down at me with shocked expressions on their faces.

* * *

Bob watched with shock as the shadow of Stephanie climbed up the side of the ship.

Then, when she reached the top of the ship, Stephanie came out from the shadows and landed on the deck.

It was Stephanie like before, jet-black hair, black sclera with gray eyes and pinprick pupils, and her clothes were in black with some gray.

In her arms were the prince and princess that were held in Robert's fortress.

"Eloise!" Pa Grape ran over to them as Stephanie placed them down on the deck, before glancing over at the island as cannonballs were launched towards them.

Using her shadow powers, Stephanie lifted her right arm with her palm outward and stopped the cannonballs before they could land in the water to disturb the bombs or crash through the ship.

Everyone was surprised after Stephanie had stopped them before a slight smirk appeared on her face.

Then, she used her powers to push them away and back towards Robert's fortress with the same force as the cannons crashing through the fort's brick walls.

They crashed through the cannons and destroyed them, making them less useful.

Robert saw what had happened after he went into the cannon room and growled in anger, clutching his mechanical hand into a fist, slamming it against the door.

He glanced over through one of the cannon windows, watching as the ship slowly and carefully turned around and left Albatross Island.

"I shall get ye next time, Reaper!" Robert called out to the ship loudly before it quickly left.

On the ship, Stephanie heard Robert yelling out to her, glancing slightly over her shoulder.

A slight smile appeared on her face after Robert called out his revenge to Stephanie before her original colors turned back to normal, and she collapsed on the deck.

She landed on her hands and knees after her colors returned, startling some people.

"Stephanie!" She felt 'hands' on her back as she stayed there on the deck, feeling a little weak from using all her powers to rescue the royalty. "Are you alright, Steph?!"

Stephanie landed on her side, panting as she looked a little pale as her dyed streak went pale too.

"We need a doctor here!" Larry shouted as Stephanie continued laying there.

"Are you alright?!" Eloise, the name of the princess, placed her 'hand' on Stephanie's forehead after kneeling a little to her height, thinking to herself as sweat dripped.

"Don't call for a doctor," Eloise sighed, removing her hand from her forehead. "She's just tired from using all her strength from battling against Robert. There is no need to panic."

Everyone sighed in relief after Eloise assured them, before turning her attention back to Stephanie.

Stephanie chuckled gently, but weakly as she shakily tried to get up from the ground.

"Thanks, m'lady," Stephanie thanked as she stumbled a little. "I guess I need to be careful with using some of my powers for a little too long."

Eloise nodded before hopping over to the other side of Stephanie, kneeling a little as an offer to help.

Stephanie took the offer, and Eloise helped Stephanie up from the ground, as the teenage prince took the other side.

"Thank you," Stephanie thanked, bowing slightly.

"It's our gratitude for rescuing us," Eloise responded, as the two hopped simultaneously to walk Stephanie over to the door.

Stephanie attempted to follow with their walking, but she was tired from using her powers too long during the escape.

Once they reached the door of Stephanie's room, Archibald was following them in case something else happened to either of them.

"May you please open the door for her?" the teenage prince asked Archibald.

Archibald nodded his head and hopped over to the door, opening it wide for them.

Stephanie followed along with Eloise and her older brother through the door before entering inside the cabin's cab.

They helped her to sit down on the couch as she sighed.

Eloise and the teenage prince looked slightly confused as they glanced around.

"What's wrong?" Stephanie asked, lifting her head a little.

"Everything around us seemed to be…" the teenage prince said before drifting off.

"Different?" Stephanie asked, suggesting.

"Off, but yes." the teenage prince nodded. "This is not the average ship we have boarded before."

Stephanie understood and smiled reassuringly, moving comfortably in her seat.

"I understand that same feeling," Stephanie spoke as her pale color faded into her original skin pigment. "I remember at one point I was flung around in the timelines without warnings."

They perked up a little as Stephanie told them the story.

"I was flung at this point of time when a group of Gauls was fighting against the Romans," Stephanie continued. "Then, after that, I was flung into the time when there were cowboys and so on."

They sat down on chairs in front of Stephanie, listening to her stories.

During this time, Stephanie decided to use some of her magic to make some tea for them.

"I remember I always felt like I was not at the right time at the right place," Stephanie sighed, lifting her left hand.

Just as she did that, a light blue aura appeared around her hand, as the teapot in the background lifted magically, with the same thing around it.

The kids were shocked when they saw that, as the water was poured inside from the sink.

"Don't mind the magic," Stephanie assured them as teacups came over to them. "I'll explain about this later, after the assuring."

They nodded as they took the cups with the saucers, as Stephanie shifted in her seat a little.

Teabags were placed inside the kettle before being placed on the surface of the oven.

Stephanie turned the heat on by turning the knobs at the exact time for the tea to be ready.

"Anyway," Stephanie sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck. "But, I managed to get used to it after a while, asking questions of others before jumping to conclusions and learning the basics."

She shrugged her shoulders slightly as she pushed back a strand of hair.

"I still have my habits, but I have some new ones." Stephanie chuckled.

"Like what?" Eloise asked as Stephanie remembered that there was no coffee table in front of them.

"Oh, one minute, please," Stephanie snapped the fingers of her right hand, as a small flame appeared in the middle of her palm. "Whoops!"

Stephanie quickly blew the flame out of her palm and blushed sheepishly.

"Forgive me," Stephanie apologized. "I have a bad habit of forgetting my right, and my left hand doesn't cooperate with different spells."

Eloise cocked an eyebrow as Stephanie snapped the fingers of her left hand, causing a coffee table to appear in front of them.

"There we go," Stephanie sighed. "Now, about my magic."

After hearing the teapot whistling, Stephanie magically lifted the pot from the oven and teleported it over to where they were sitting, pouring the tea into their cups.

"I am a mage," Stephanie smiled. "Sometimes, I consider myself lazy with this, but I prefer taking action."

Eloise nodded in agreement and said, "I normally prefer doing what Alexander does."

Stephanie perked and asked, sitting up from her seat, "What's that, m'lady?"

"I enjoy doing sword fighting," Eloise responded.

Stephanie looked more impressed and smiled politely, sitting up more from her seat to listen to the conversation.

"That's amazing!" Stephanie remarked. "For a beautiful young lady, you sure are strong!"

Eloise blushed from Stephanie's remark about her sword fighting, as Alexander, the teenage prince, looked slightly suspicious.

"Aside from that," Alexander spoke. "Which part of the world did you come from?"

"I came from a small city called 'Fairland,'" Stephanie calmly answered, mentally remarking at how alert and suspicious Alexander was. "And," she reached into her pocket and took the Helpseeker out from inside. "Do any of you two know who made this?"

Eloise looked surprised when she noticed the Helpseeker in her hand, as she exclaimed, "The Helpseeker? How did you get it?"

"I was in a box in the attic of my house," Stephanie explained to Eloise. "I was rummaging through the boxes to get boredom out of my mind and came across this."

She gently tapped the black button of the Helpseeker, continuing her story to the two, "It was damaged and, using a spell of mine, fixed it and got teleported here when it flashed red."

Eloise hummed softly to herself as she placed the teacup on the coffee table and took the Helpseeker into her 'hands.'

"Our father made the Helpseeker," Eloise explained to Stephanie. "It was designed to get help from the future to the present and help us from any danger we are in."

"But George, Elliot, and Sedgewick kept the Helpseeker in case we needed help again," the prince explained. "Since that, we were kidnapped again, and, as you know, the rest of the story."

Stephanie paused a little in thought before asking, "Where is your father?"

Alexander and Eloise saddened a little after Stephanie asked them as Eloise handed the Helpseeker to her.

"They are still in our original timeline." Alexander sighed. "It will take him many centuries to find us since we are stuck here."

Stephanie was saddened after they answered her question before she smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry," Stephanie spoke, perking them. "As soon as we can find a way to restore the timeline into its place, we will return you to your father."

They glanced at each other after Stephanie had assured them as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Of course, it might take a while and confuse you all," She sighed. "But, it's worth a try to work things out."

Then, the door was knocked, and Stephanie glanced over, saying, "Come in."

The door opened after Stephanie responded to their knock, and Larry, Pa Grape, and Mr. Lunt poked in.

"Are they okay?" Larry asked as they entered the room.

"Yes," Stephanie nodded. "A little startled and confused by the difference of the ship and startled by my powers, I think they are slowly warming up."

Pa Grape sighed in relief from the news Stephanie said before Eloise asked, "What about you? You collapsed on the deck after rescuing us."

Stephanie remembered what had happened earlier and answered, pushing back a strand of wire, "Oh, about that. If I used up all my strength, I could either a. fall asleep or b. collapse on the ground, which you all had already seen."

Stephanie yawned widely, revealing her sharp canines and scarred lips and tongue from the inside.

After she had yawned, Stephanie said, "Ooh, boy. I'm starting to feel a little sleepy now."

The kids glanced at each other after they had seen Stephanie's canines and scarred tongue and lips, as Mr. Lunt hopped over to her.

"Need a hand to get to the bed?" he suggested.

Stephanie shook her head no as she placed a hand on her head, feeling a migraine kicking in.

"No, thank you," Stephanie smiled. "I think the couch is comfortable."

With that, Stephanie got comfortable on the couch and blinked a few times sleepily, before falling asleep instantly.

Pa Grape chuckled after Stephanie had fallen asleep, and Eloise got up from her chair, placing the cup of tea down, and hopped away.

"Err, Eloise?" Pa Grape asked. "Where are you going?"

Eloise came back with a blanket in her 'hands' and placed it over Stephanie's body.

"She needs that for warmth," Eloise smiled. "It's a gratitude for rescuing us."

Larry, Pa Grape, and Mr. Lunt glanced at each other after Eloise explained, before smiling.

"And that's a good thing too," nodded Mr. Lunt. "She has been headstrong."

The three nodded and hopped after them, exiting out of the room.

"Oh, if you want to know where your rooms are, just follow us," Larry said, as Alexander closed the door.

After he had closed the door, Stephanie placed her hand on the blanket Eloise gave her, pulling it up over her head, before a small smile was on her face.

1


	6. Clues of The Blueprint

In the afternoon, Stephanie slowly woke up from being asleep for a long time, feeling less sore and tired than last time.

She sat up from the couch she was sleeping on, blinking a few more times before yawning, revealing her sharp canines and scarred mouth.

After yawning, Stephanie stretches out from where she was lying, feeling a little sore that she fell asleep on the couch.

Sitting up from the couch, Stephanie felt her bones pop out from the sockets slightly, but cracked a little as she winced softly.

Once she had fully sat up, Stephanie yawned again as she stretched, before hearing the door knock, glancing over at it with a confused expression on her face.

"Come in!" Stephanie called the figure from the other side of the door, sounding a little tired but awake.

The door clicked open after Stephanie responded to the knock, and Eloise hopped inside, carrying a tray of food in her 'hands.'

From what Stephanie can see, there was a glass of both orange juice and milk with another cup that could be filled with water, slices of toast, and a small dipping sauce.

"Is that for me?" Stephanie politely asked as she hopped in front of her with the tray in her 'hands,' still feeling a little groggy.

"Yes," Eloise nodded as she placed the tray of food in front of Stephanie. "I didn't know what you liked, so I gathered as much as there was in the dining room."

Stephanie could now see that there were both pancakes and waffles, with eggs and bacon, and a bowl of cereal of _Cap'n Crunch_ to Stephanie's surprise.

"You gathered all this food for me?" Stephanie softly chuckled, glancing up at Eloise, who nodded her head yes. "What about you? What are you going to eat?"

"Don't worry about me, Stephanie," Eloise assured her as Stephanie paused a little. "I'll eat soon, you go ahead and eat yours."

Stephanie nodded her head and went to eat the cereal first, as Eloise hopped away and closed the door behind her back.

"How is she?" Alexander asked after Eloise closed the door behind her back.

"She is doing fine," Eloise answered, shaking her head gently. "Right now, let's get some breakfast from the dining room."

Alexander paused after Eloise assured him, glancing over at the door that belongs to her, feeling suspicious of her.

But, without a word or doing anything, Alexander instead followed Eloise to the dining room.

Meanwhile, Stephanie continued eating the breakfast that Eloise had given her, enjoying the food she had picked for her.

It oddly reminded her of her mother's cooking, where she could make pancakes for breakfast, or her father makes waffles in the morning.

But the best part was the coffee in the third cup, which was perfectly sweetened to her liking.

Mentally, Stephanie slapped a note to herself to pay Eloise gratitude for giving her food by making her some food in return.

Once she had finished her breakfast, Stephanie stood up from the couch she was sitting on and walked outside her room, heading to the dining room to place the dishes away.

Stephanie entered the dining room and noticed there were some veggies inside, but not as much as there was.

But Stephanie did not mind it since it was like a school cafeteria in her mind.

"Excuse me," Stephanie pardoned herself as she bowed slightly to each veggie she passed. "Excuse me, pardon me, excuse me, sorry."

As she passed each veggie, Stephanie kept glancing over when she felt that something had_ changed_ after she went to rescue the prince and princess.

They were oddly staring at her with suspicion and distrust as if she had done something that made them double think about her.

Her mind went to the powers she used to get to them in shadow form, mentally scolding herself for pulling a stupid stunt like that in front of _everyone!_

"Hey, watch it!" Stephanie snapped out of her thoughts when she accidentally bumped into someone smaller than him, flinching and moving backwards. "You nearly rolled me!"

It was one of the French peas, glaring up at her with an irritated expression on his face, as he had freckles on his cheeks.

"Oh, pardonne-moi," Stephanie spoke in French to the pea that snapped at her. "I'm sorry for nearly stepping on you."

The French pea looked surprised when Stephanie spoke French, asking in his language, "Quand avez-vous parlé ou appris le français? Êtes-vous à moitié français vous-même?"

Stephanie paused a little after he asked, before placing the plates down in the bin to collect dirty dishes and kneeling to his height.

"Non je suis désolé." Stephanie apologized in French as more French peas hopped over to her. "Je ne suis pas à moitié français. J'ai appris le français seulement d'un de mes amis."

The French peas 'oohed' after Stephanie explained to them, as one of them said, "Votre ami français doit alors vous avoir appris beaucoup de français! Nous vous disons adieu et soyez prudent avec votre destination!"

Stephanie nodded her head and stood back up to her feet, as the French peas hopped away from her, as she sighed, blushing a light neon pink color with embarrassment.

First, she made herself a boastful idiot in front of everyone, now she almost got herself into serious trouble with a French pea for being so caught up in her thoughts!

"Stephanie?" Stephanie snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her name spoken, glancing over and noticing a confused but concerned Larry. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Stephanie assured Larry. "Just in my thoughts."

Larry glanced away from Stephanie as she headed outside to get her mind back together from being distracted.

As she stepped outside, something ruffled in her pocket, causing her to glance down and notice a corner of a blue piece of paper sticking out.

Confused, Stephanie reached inside with a hand and took out the piece of paper, noticing that it was the blueprint she had taken with her before rescuing the prince and princess.

'Oh, I forgot about this!' Stephanie thought to herself as she opened the blueprint. 'But… what machine this is?'

Stephanie paused a little as she scanned the diagram with her left eye as the beam was invisible and looked at the device.

It was cube-shaped and looked like a puzzle box that Stephanie had seen before, but looked different from what she had suspected.

But it looked almost like a Skylander's portal, except a little different from how it looked before.

It was even in a mixture of Steampunk and cybernetic too.

From the middle of the cube was an unspecified gemstone that had question marks scribbled around it, with the words 'Topaz?' and 'Ruby?' written.

'Is he trying to look for a gemstone to operate this thing?' Stephanie thought to herself as she continued looking through the designs, even looking at the blueprint in her hands.

As she continued looking through the design of the device, Bob hopped over to her to ask a question, paused when he noticed that Stephanie was holding another blueprint in her hands, and looked to be deep in her thoughts.

Larry and Shem hopped over and noticed Stephanie looking at the blueprint in her hands, glancing at each other, before Larry hopped over to her.

"Steph?" He spoke but did not receive an answer. "Stephanie?"

Still, no response as her left eye was glowing slightly, scanning across the blueprint and mumbling to herself.

"Stephanie!" Bob called but to no avail.

Shem thought to himself for a moment before hopping off, then returned with an air horn in his 'hand.'

He shook the air horn for a moment, before turning his head away and closing his eyes, 'pressing' the button on the top, making a loud air horn noise.

That eventually caused Stephanie to snap out of her thoughts.

Stephanie jolted after hearing the air horn noise, exclaiming, "What the-?!" before noticing the air horn in Shem's 'hand.'

"What was that for?!" Stephanie exclaimed, slightly huffing as she closed the blueprint in her hands.

"You were deep in thought and would not respond to our calls," Larry explained as Shem hopped away to place the air horn away. "And is it normal for your left eye to glow like that?"

Stephanie reached up with one hand and felt the side of her left hand with her fingers underneath her glasses, as the glow had stopped.

"Yeah," Stephanie nodded. "It only happens when I am deep in my thoughts or examining something inside my mind like how robots do it, which you did not need to scare me like that!"

Stephanie snapped gently at them with a soft glare as Shem chuckled sheepishly.

"Anyway," Bob shook his head after Stephanie gently snapped at them. "What is the blueprint in your hands? Is it one of your ideas?"

She shook her head no and knelt to their heights, opening the blueprint up and showing what was drawn and written on it.

"This is Robert's blueprints," Stephanie explained as Shem, Bob, and Larry looked surprised. "I stole it from him while on my mission to rescue Alexander and Eloise from him."

"Th-That's incredible!" Shem remarked. "What about the other blueprints he made back at his fortress?"

"I did graffiti on them." Stephanie shrugged. "Mostly messing his plans and drew on them, so he wouldn't use them again."

She gave a cheeky smile after explaining what she did to Robert's blueprints during her adventure in his castle, as Bob, Larry, and Shem looked impressed.

"But," Stephanie continued as she pointed to the drawing of the puzzle box/Skylander portal machine. "Do any of you know what _this_ type of blueprint plans are?"

Confused expressions appeared on all of their faces after Stephanie asked, glancing at each other and back at the blueprint.

"No, not really." Bob shook his head no as Shem and Larry thought to themselves. "But, from the title, it looks like a portal of some sort."

"I noticed." Stephanie nodded, sighing gently to herself from the _obvious_ thing. "But from which timeline, place, and where did it come from? I know Robert created it, but _what_ is this creation is the main question."

Bob, Larry, and Shem nodded their heads in agreement before Alexander hopped over after hearing the conversation, suggesting, "Maybe if we find one of Robert's crew members and make him spill out some information about it?"

A smile appeared on Stephanie's face after he suggested, saying, "Alexander, you are a genius! But where can we find them since they could be everywhere?"

Alexander looked slightly surprised after Stephanie complimented his idea, smiling softly from her kindness.

"Why not try going to _Jolly Joe's_?" suggested Larry. "It is full of pirates there! Maybe Robert the Terrible's crew is in there!"

"Good idea, Larry!" Stephanie smiled before turning her attention to the window with the blueprint rolled up in her hand. "Peach! Hey, Peach!"

Muffled came from the other side of the window, and Stephanie paused a little before calling out again, "We can't hear you, Peach!"

The window opened, and Peach's head popped out of the window, calling out to Stephanie and the gang, "I said 'what?'"

Stephanie smiled after he asked, saying, "Can you give the coordinates to _Jolly Joe's?_"

"Sure!" Peach nodded before hopping back into the cabin.

Stephanie patiently waited for a few minutes as the window closed by itself without Peach using it.

After a few minutes passed, muffled noises came from the other side of the window, as Stephanie, along with Shem, Bob, and Larry called up to Peach, "We can't hear you, Peach."

The window opened again, and Peach poked his head out again, calling, "Sorry! The darn window closed again!"

"Don't worry!" Stephanie called him. "I'll ask one of the carpenters to get up there and fix it for you."

"Thanks!" Peach called her before clearing his throat. "_Jolly Joe's_ is about east-west from where we are on the map! That means we are around seventy or eighty miles away from where we are!"

"Thank you, Peach!" Stephanie called up to him with a smile on her face.

"Actually," Peach spoke, blushing gently from Stephanie's compliment. "My name is Norman! But I do get nicknamed 'Peach' because of what fruit I am!"

"Oh!" Stephanie gently chuckled. "Well, thank you, Norman!"

Norman, the name of the Peach, blushes more from Stephanie's gratitude for his help, before turning away and the window closed behind his back.

"Captain!" Stephanie called the captain of the ship, who poked his head out of the window. "Head over to east-west!"

He nodded his head and moved his head back into the window, and the driver of the wheel turned the wheel, turning the ship east-west.

Once Stephanie had called out to the captain, she paused a little as she unrolled the blueprints in her hand and looked at it, thinking to herself for a moment.

"Shem?" Stephanie spoke as he glanced back over at her from looking at the captain. "Do you mind if I borrow you in my room for the moment? We still need to analyze this a little to get some information on it."

Shem nodded his head and followed Stephanie but did not know that Alexander followed behind, deciding that he could test his trust with her to see what would happen next.

During the trip to _Jolly Joe's_, Stephanie, Shem, and Alexander were talking about the blueprint she had recently swiped during her adventure through Robert's fortress, discussing what could be what Robert is or made.

Meanwhile, everyone talked to each other about the adventures they had been through.

Some were commenting on what they were wearing or what they were doing, even playing games.

The crew members on the ship went to wash the poop deck, roping the sails, mending the ropes, and checking for any leaks in the lower part of the boat.

Soon, they reached _Jolly Joe's_ and anchored the ship to the docks, where Stephanie went to it, but not by herself like last time.

Larry, Pa Grape, and Mr. Lunt go along with her, just in case she does not mess things up or get herself into trouble.

Stephanie placed her hood up over her head to hide her appearance, as she also placed her arms into her pockets to make herself more 'vegetable' like.

"Okay," Mr. Lunt explained to Stephanie as she glanced down at him. "All you have to do is to lie low and not attract any more attention."

Stephanie nodded her head after Mr. Lunt explained, reaching over with a hand and slowly opening the door to _Jolly Joe's_, as a wave of music hit their ears.

"Join in!" a pirate's voice exclaimed, as Stephanie and the three poked their heads inside. "🎵Argh, argh, argh, argh, argh, argh, argh, argh, argh, argh!🎵"

Stephanie perked with interest as she continued listening to the music playing from the pirates, following behind Mr. Lunt, Larry, and Pa Grape.

One of the pirates was a male, which has a Scottish accent and looked to be a rhubarb with red leaves on the head to make it look like 'hair' as he was holding a violin in his hands, playing it, even though he had no hands or arms.

"🎵Grab your root beer, hold it high! Whack your shipmate in the eye!🎵" the Scottish pirate sang, dancing on the tabletop in front of his friends. "🎵Yank his hair and break his nose! Watch your back, it's Jolly Joe's.🎵"

Just as after he sang that some pirates were from Robert's crew whacked their shipmate in the eye, as another yanked another's beard.

"🎵Grab your root beer, hold it high!🎵" The pirates repeated as the Scottish pirate played his violin while dancing. "🎵Yank his hair and break his nose! Watch your back, it's Jolly Joe's.🎵"

Stephanie weaved and moved through the dancing crowds after the three, being careful with her hood and bumping into other pirates as they continued singing.

"🎵Argh, argh, argh, argh, argh,🎵" the pirates sang as Stephanie smirked from their singing. "🎵Argh, argh, argh, argh, argh!🎵"

"You've got it now!" the Scottish rhubarb pirate smirked as she was impressed by how jolly they were. "Keep it up, lads!

He jumped from the table he was dancing on and danced on another one, as everyone continued dancing and waiting for the next line of lyrics from him.

"🎵Swing your shipmate, promenade, smack him with a rusty blade,🎵" the Scottish rhubarb pirate sang as he played his violin. "🎵Spin around, and do-si-do, watch your step, it's Jolly Joe's!🎵"

"🎵Swing your shipmate, promenade, smack him with a rusty blade,🎵" the pirates repeated as one of them smacked another with the hilt of a knife, before spinning that person around. "🎵Spin around, and do-si-do, watch your step, it's Jolly Joe's!🎵"

Stephanie would at times duck as an object of food whizzed past her head, but luckily caught one of them and ate it along the way, complimenting herself from the taste of it.

"🎵Argh, argh, argh, argh, argh,🎵" the pirates sang, as the Scottish rhubarb pirate exclaimed, "Watch your backs, scalawags!" "🎵Argh, argh, argh, argh, argh!🎵"

"🎵Pirates do as pirates please,🎵" they sang along as Stephanie and the crew stopped for some group of pirates to move. "🎵We're terrors of the Seven Seas, and when we've pillaged all our foes, there ain't no place like Jolly Jo-o-o-oe's!🎵"

Stephanie smirked to herself as she continued listening to the song, moving aside slightly to let some pirates by.

"🎵Grab a keg of ginger ale, hop up on a wooden pail,🎵" the pirates continued singing, watching as one of the pirates picked up a wooden keg before hopping onto a wooden stool. "🎵Drop it on your shipmate's toes! Oh!🎵"

The group winced after the shipmate slammed the keg onto his friend's 'toes,' as Stephanie bit the bottom of her lip with the front of her teeth.

"🎵There ain't no place like Jolly Joe's~!🎵" the singing finished, as the 'arg'ing continued playing before the music stopped and the pirates returned to their seats.

"That…" Stephanie paused as she slowly smiled to herself. "Was lively."

"I know." nodded Mr. Lunt. "Now, what was the plan you have?"

Stephanie knelt to Mr. Lunt's height and whispered, in Spanish to his surprise, "El plan era buscar a uno de los piratas que es uno de los miembros de la tripulación de Robert. Lo engañamos y lo sacamos afuera, y lo hacemos soltar los frijoles."

Mr. Lunt paused a little after Stephanie explained before smiling and responding in Spanish, to Pa Grape and Larry's surprise, "Está bien, puedo seguir eso."

Stephanie smiled after Mr. Lunt responded in Spanish, before standing up to her height and walking away, searching for a group to weasel herself into.

"What did she and you say back to each other?" Larry softly asked, cocking his head to the side.

"She explained the plan to me in the language I speak, and I responded." Mr. Lunt explained.

"You didn't tell us you are half Spanish!" Pa Grape mentioned as Mr. Lunt hopped away, as Larry followed behind.

"You just didn't listen." Mr. Lunt huffed.

Meanwhile, Stephanie continued searching around for a crew member of Robert's, acting like a cat searching for a mouse.

As soon as she passed by the Scottish rhubarb pirate, he took notice of her and perked, smirking gently.

"Hey, lass," he spoke, causing Stephanie to stop and glance over at him, seeing that he had one of Robert's symbols on the collar of his coat. "Want tae have a drink wi' me?"

Stephanie paused a little after he asked, before smirking slightly and said, "Sure, but I wonder how long you can hold your sugar?"

He paused a little after she asked before saying, "Well, have a seat an let's find oot for ourselves!"

Stephanie smiled as she sat down in the seat next to him, despite being a little too small for her, but was able to sit down without having to knock a table over.

He glanced over his shoulder and called out to one of the waitresses, "Oi! Twa mugs o root beer ower here!"

Stephanie glanced over at him as the waitress came over while carrying two mugs of root beer on a tray, placing them down between him and Stephanie.

He picked up his mug after it was placed, as Stephanie did with hers, which she quickly gulped in a single swallow.

It was not that small since she can hold it in her hand, but looked like one of the glasses that are used for milk.

The Scottish pirate looked surprised to watch Stephanie gulp the root beer in a single swig, before smirking with pride.

"Oi!" he called over his shoulder again as Stephanie licked her lips with her scarred tongue, liking the flavor of the root beer. "Three mugs o root beer ower here!"

Meanwhile, Mr. Lunt, Larry, and Pa Grape were not making any progress as they continued looking for anyone who belonged to Robert but found none.

"Great." Larry sighed after looking. "What we'll-"

They were cut off when a belch went through the air, along with another one, which was lower than the first one.

"Whoa! Now _thon's_ a burp!" the same Scottish voice went through the air, perking their attention. "Waitress, eicht more root beers ower here!"

Confused, they hopped over to see what was going on, only to gasp when they saw among the crowd surrounding the table was _Stephanie_, including the Scottish rhubarb pirate that has Robert's symbol on the collar of his coat.

"What is she _doing_?!" Pa Grape exclaimed softly, looking worried. "Is she trying to get herself hyper?!"

"No," Mr. Lunt shook his head. "She is trying to get _him_ hyper."

Stephanie smirked as she picked up _four_ root beer mugs in her hands, drinking one by one, impressing the crowd as the Scottish pirate, using four silly straws are in the other four pint pots, drinking them through it.

The group watched and betted on who would get hyper first, going from one bag of doubloons to two, then to three.

Stephanie finished her eighth mug that another waitress had brought for them, before glancing over at a keg that has the label that reads '_The Noble Blast._'

She covered her mouth as she burped gently before holding her hand up and called, "Excuse me?"

One of the waitresses heard Stephanie excuse herself and hopped over, responding with, "Yes?"

"May I have a keg of the _Noble Blast_?" Instantly the whole room went silent after Stephanie asked as the Scottish rhubarb pirate also spat out his drink from the straws.

"What's the _Noble Blast?_" Larry asked one of the pirates as he glanced over at Larry.

"Th' _Noble Blast_ be a type o' soda that makes someone hyper aft' a sip." the pirate answered as he was holding three bags of doubloons in his 'hands.' "Th' last pirate who attempted t' drink that keg nigh-on fainted from bein' too hyper. I don't reckon she can do it."

Stephanie mischievously smirked after she heard the conversation and stood up from the chair, along with the Scottish rhubarb pirate, who was shaking slightly from being hyper.

"A'll have whit she is having!" the Scottish rhubarb pirate smirked cockily. "Twa kegs o' the _Noble Blast_, waitress!"

Everyone glanced at each other with surprise, whispering to each other as Larry, Mr. Lunt, and Pa Grape simultaneously gulped with worry.

Stephanie noticed him shaking slightly and kept going with the challenge until he got to the point of hyperness.

The pirates pushed two kegs over to where they were, and Stephanie picked hers, as the Scottish rhubarb pirate picked his up with a little of struggle, as Stephanie's with ease.

She placed it down and popped the cork out, as the Scottish rhubarb pirate popped the cork off his with a pair of pliers.

"Whoa," Larry remarked after watching Stephanie easily pop the cork off of hers. "She's strong."

To their surprise, Stephanie _lifted_ the keg from the ground with ease to every pirate's shock, as the Scottish rhubarb pirate watched with astonishment too, but went back to what he was doing, attempting to lift it like how she did.

He wobbled a little after attempting to lift it from the ground, but spilled some as he slightly struggled while holding the barrel in his 'hands.'

So, he placed it down on the ground and ordered the waitress to get him the hugest mug there is, which she handed him one after being told what to do, as he tipped it slightly, pouring the soda it into the pint pot he asked for.

They both drank the soda as Stephanie drank hers out of the _keg_, taking massive gulps as she held it in her hands.

The pirates then chanted the word, "Chug!" repeatedly, as Larry, Mr. Lunt, and Pa Grape watched with worry, thinking Stephanie's heart is going to be too fast for her body to take, or get too full of water.

Until Stephanie tipped the keg back more and took the last gulp, revealing that she had _finished the whole barrel of Noble's Blast_.

The Scottish rhubarb pirate only drank four or five of _Noble's Blast_ as she finished the keg, before going into a fit of hyperness, speedily singing a song in Gaelic, and dancing a Scottish jig.

"Uh… she won?" a waitress spoke, watching as the Scottish rhubarb pirate continued to be hyper, as Stephanie smiled as she placed the empty keg down on the ground, licking her lips to get the remaining _Noble's Delight_ off.

"Yep!" Stephanie smiled before walking over to him and scooping him up from the ground in her hands, carrying him over her shoulder with ease. "May I have four kegs of the _Noble's Delight_ and eight kegs of root beer?"

"Why on Earth?!" exclaimed the bartender.

"Because I like the root beer," Stephanie answered, collecting the bets the pirates took and placing it down in front of the bartender. "Keep the change."

"Wha' about his debt?" the bartender asked, mentioning the still chattering Scottish rhubarb pirate over her shoulder. "He still owes me!"

Stephanie pushed her glasses into place after he asked before responding as she reached into her sweater's pocket and took out two bags filled with doubloons and placed them down in front of him.

"Is this enough to pay for both?" Stephanie politely asked, moving her head away from him as he burped.

"…Aye, 'tis enough." The bartender nodded as Stephanie smiled politely.

"Thank you." Stephanie thanked before turning around and carrying the Scottish rhubarb pirate outside with her, as Larry, Mr. Lunt, and Pa Grape followed behind her, with gawking expressions on their faces.

Once outside, Stephanie watched as the pirates placed the last of the ordered barrels of root beer and _Nobel's Blast_ onto the ship, knowing that the prince and princess were in hiding, so they would not be caught and reported to Robert.

Later, Stephanie placed the now less hyper Scottish rhubarb pirate down against a rock and waited for him to stop burping.

"Okay," Stephanie spoke after he hiccuped, reaching into her sweater pocket and pulling the blueprint out, showing it to him. "Do you know what this is?"

He looked at the blueprint for a moment, before answering in stammering Scottish Gaelic that Stephanie can translate, "I-It's inneal a rinn Ro-Robert gus siubhal air ais ann an tìm."

Stephanie paused a little after he answered, as Larry, Mr. Lunt, and Pa Grape looked confused.

"He says that it is a device that Robert made to travel in time." Stephanie translated it for them.

"So, that's how he got here?" Pa Grape asked, hopping once forward.

"Tha, tha-tha e." the Scottish rhubarb pirate stammered, still shaking with hyperness. "Bha an criostal mu dheireadh a chleachd e a 'crathadh às deidh dha tighinn a-steach don àm seo. O, gus dèanamh cinnteach nach cuir duine sam bith eile air ais e chun loidhne-tìm aige, roinn e an inneal ann an trì pìosan sgapte air feadh an t-saoghail."

Stephanie glanced back down at the blueprint in her hand and looked at the sketch of the gemstones.

She realized that Robert was searching for another gemstone and had broken the machine into different pieces to make things difficult for his enemies.

"What did he say?" Larry asked as Stephanie glanced up at him.

"He said that the last gemstone that Robert used shattered after he came here and is searching for another one," Stephanie explained to them.

After she explained, a thump came, and Stephanie glanced back over at the Scottish rhubarb pirate, noticing that he had passed out.

"Oh, he passed out." Mr. Lunt shrugged after he had passed out and turned around, starting to hop away.

"Wait," Stephanie spoke, glancing over at them and stood up to her feet from kneeling. "We can't leave him here!"

Mr. Lunt, Larry, and Pa Grape stopped hopping and glanced back over to Stephanie, as Mr. Lunt exclaimed, "Why?! He's a member of Robert's crew!"

"That doesn't mean that we have to leave him defenseless here!" Stephanie protested, huffing. "'We can change people by becoming their friends, not their enemies! Make friends with people so you may change them.'"

Mr. Lunt, Pa Grape, and Larry went silent after Stephanie quoted, as Pa Grape asked, "What does it mean?"

"It meant that leaving someone in a state meant that you were a true enemy to them," Stephanie explained as she mentioned over to him with a hand. "But, if we take care of him, we can change him like how you change your villains in your stories from the episodes you do."

They glanced at each other after Stephanie explained as she picked the now knocked out Scottish rhubarb pirate up from the ground, carrying him towards the ship.

"But… I'll keep him in my office to make things safe around," Stephanie added, before turning back around and boarding the ship.

After Stephanie boarded the ship, Larry glanced over at Pa Grape and nodded his head, before following her to not be left behind.

Mr. Lunt was silent after Stephanie protested to them, before hopping over Larry and Pa Grape, getting ready to search for the pieces that were scattered.

1


	7. Hospitality and Hostility

A soft groan came from the empty room, as there was shifting coming from the bed in it, as eyes blinked a few times into the room.

"Dè-Dè an-?" the same male's Scottish voice went through the air as a figure rose from the bed, looking confused as the blankets fell off of his body.

Reaching over to the side of him to the bedside table, he 'felt' around for a candle to see where he was.

Even with some matches to light it after finding it, thinking his crew must have found him.

But to his confusion, he felt nothing there, even when he reached as far as his 'hand' can.

"Och, càit a bheil an coinneal?" he mumbled softly to himself in Gaelic, continuing to feel around for the candle.

After a few minutes of searching, he moved his 'hand' away from the bedside table, feeling more confused about his _different_ surroundings.

It was not like his own bedroom.

Checking for anything that is off about him, he went to check by feeling around with his 'hands.'

He even feels underneath his 'hair' too, if there are any pieces of it missing.

To his relief, there was nothing off about him… nor any position of his clothes out of order either.

Deciding to get out of bed, he pushed the blankets off his body and hopped off to the side, only to pause a little when he noticed that it was a little… _bigger_ than what he remembered his bed like.

Did one of his crew members decide to prank him?

"Hilarious." he scoffed as he turned around after glancing back over to the bed. "A forgot tae lauch, now, where's..."

He drifted off when he looked in the mirror, seeing that it _was_ him in the mirror with no unexpected changes to him to his relief.

He has a thin appearance and is tall, with short, red leaves from his head that acts like 'hair,' slightly wavy and pulled into a low ponytail at the back.

The Scotsman even wore a dark green captain's jacket with Robert's symbol on the collar, with a white shirt underneath and, like every Scotsman should wear, a kilt around his waist with _nothing_ underneath it.

He smiled with pride after looking at himself in the mirror, before pausing a little when he noticed that his belt around his waist… does not have his trustworthy sword on him.

'Thon's richt,' he thought to himself as he turned around. 'Where's thon sword?'

He hopped around as he searched for his sword, but to his confusion, the Scotsman could not find it as he continued searching.

To his more confusion, he even found out that his 'room' also has curtains that do not have his sword behind it.

Taking some time off from searching, he peered through the window before realizing that the entire time he was in the room, _he was kidnapped and taken captive onto a different ship._

'Whit am A doin' _here_?!' he exclaimed to himself as he hopped away from the window. 'A have tae find a way oot o' this place!'

He reopened the window, letting some light inside his 'prison' and tried opening the window to swim back to his ship, only to pause when he noticed that the window could not open.

He gently shook the window a little to make it come loose before starting to yank upward, struggling to open it as he muttered to himself in Gaelic.

As he continued struggling a little, he successfully cracked it a little before it collapsed and caused him to be flung backwards, skidding across the ground as it was closed.

"BLIMEY!" he groaned in frustration, smacking his single leg against the ground.

Suddenly, the doorknob of his 'prison' clicked a little, taking his attention as he turned to the door, seeing that _someone_ or _something_ was coming into his room.

Even in the worst part, he was unarmed.

Standing up and muttering something in Gaelic, he glanced around for anything to attack but only found a book on the bookshelf.

So he took the book that was the heaviest from the shelf and held it in his 'hands,' moving it over his head as if it was a club.

He was positioned to strike whoever was coming into the stranger's room, thinking it was an unexpected attack or a cruel prank.

As he was waiting, his ears eavesdropped on a conversation on the other side of the door, perking his attention more.

"A-Are you certain that you will take care of this ruffian?" a British voice asked, stammering a little in his words, to his confusion.

When did a British man come onto the ship?

…Unless he could be on a more _different_ ship than the ones he was suspected.

His stomach clenched at the thought of being on _his_ ship, paling from being _beheaded_ by _him_ for being in Robert's crew, but did not drop the book.

"Yes, I am sure." his mind stopped when he heard the oddly _familiar_ female's voice from the other side of the door, making him drop his guard a little. "Besides, he's staying in my room to make things safer. I escape-proofed the whole place, so he wouldn't cause havoc or spill secrets out to Robert about what we are doing."

"Are you sure _that_ is hospitalizing?" The British man asked again. "H-He will hurt you, even though-"

"I am taller than him, different from him, and have more experience," the female sighed. "I know, I know. Archibald, I will be fine. Why don't you have some tea to calm your nerves down a little? Try using chamomiletea with a bit of sugar. It'll help."

A pause came from the conversation before the British man said, "Oh, alright. But be _very_ careful with him! He's one of the _Raiders of the Dead Sea_."

'Yep, that's me.' he jokingly thought to himself with a gentle smirk.

Another pause came from the other side of the door before the female's voice said, "I understand. I'll let you know if something happened, okay?"

A pause came again before footsteps left the door, as the doorknob started turning, making him lift his guard back up, holding the book over his head.

The door only opened a little before the female's voice said, speaking in a different language, "_Rigéscunt._"

A confused expression appeared on his face after she had said that, thinking he was moving his 'hands' slightly.

However, when he glanced over, he was surprised when he noticed that his hands were in the same position they were before.

He tried moving his 'hands' down with some struggles but still could not budge his 'hands' even if he could.

Slowly, the door opened after he struggled to move his 'hands' down from holding the book over his head, but when he glanced over, his face went pale when he discovered _who_ it was.

It was a being he has never seen before, with long thin strands of _hair_ instead of leaves like him, and has fair skin!

The left-hand side of her head was covered in many thin wires that are each in different colors, as her left eye was replaced with a metal one.

But the most part that freaked him out was that she had _limbs!_

She had two arms as the right one was made of silver metal and two legs that are covered in blue jeans and shoes, including _feet and fingers_.

She looked like a creation that Robert had created from his laboratory.

For the first time, he started shaking from head to toe, watching as it walked into the room and sighed, closing the door behind her back as she reached up, pushing back a strand of wire from her face.

His mind switched from her alien appearance to her sweater, remembering seeing that from somewhere when he was intoxicated with caffeine…

Instantly, it clicked when the memory came back to him, showing the same face as hers.

_She_ was the one who kidnapped and made him drink _Noble's Delight_ in the challenge after he told her to sit down with him to drink!

The being reached over with a hand and took a chair, pulling it forward and sat down in front of him as he was still stuck in the position he is in.

Despite seeing all the chairs around that seemed to be in her size to sit comfortably.

To him, it looked like a stool from the pub where you have to use your upper body strength.

…Could he be in _her_ room instead?

"I'm sorry that I had to keep you in my room." she apologized as she placed her hands together. "I can't allow you to roam around the ship freely since you are one of Robert's crew members."

She pointed at the collar of his coat, indicating that he is a part of Robert's crew, which caused him to frown, knowing that he had been tricked and kidnapped.

"Sae?!" he snapped at her as she had a straight face. "He will come here an' rescue me!"

"Are you a hundred percent on that?" she asked, mentioning a hand to him. "Most of the villains I know from my encounters leave their minions behind like pawns and only focus on the main point."

A long pause came from him after she explained, asking, "An' which is?"

"As usual," she sighed, rolling her eyes as she sighed. "Taking over the world and take all the riches."

"An' true!" he snapped as she crossed her arms over her chest while cocking an eyebrow. "The best way o' bein' a pirate is rulin' aw seven seas and-"

"Bringin' aw terror across the countries an' act like A am a princess." she mocked, speaking in an excellent Scottish accent, moving her hands up and shaking them slightly, crossing her eyes a little.

He frowned as he blushed from the mock, snapping something in Gaelic at her, which she cocked her eyebrows more with amusement.

"Cànan mas e do thoil e," she spoke in Gaelic to him, surprising him. "Tha cluasan neo-chiontach timcheall an seo."

He stammered a little after she spoke in Gaelic to him before exclaiming, "Wh-WHEN DID YE SPEAK GAELIC?!"

"I just do," she responded in English, shrugging her shoulders. "It's a little talent I have."

"A know it's a talent wi' excellent training, but…" he paused a little as more confusion came over him. "Which mother did ye have tae teach ye thon? Ye have tae be half Scottish!"

She gently giggled after he exclaimed, before saying, "Well, every human in my realm and like every century, era, and universes, they have a purpose, and every purpose must come with some hard training and patience."

He went silent after she explained, glancing away from her in thought, noticing that he was not even holding the book anymore to attack but still could not move his 'arms' down or hop.

"So," she mentioned to the book in his hands as he glanced back up at her. "Were you about to read that, or were you going to attack me?"

"Attack ye, o' course!" he snapped as he bared his teeth at her. "Ye kidnappit me from ma crew an' is holdin' me prisoner i' yer room!"

She paused after he snapped at her before saying, "Do you remember that you passed out in the open outside of _Jolly Joe's_?"

He paused a little after she asked, before saying, "Ay, A remember… why?"

She smiled gently and mentioned over to him with a hand again, answering his question, "Well, if we abandoned you there, someone else who is from the prince and princess's father's crew might see you as a chance to attack."

He paled a little from her explanation, gulping once thickly as he shook a little as she removed her hand from him.

"Now," she spoke as she moved her leg up, placing it over her right as she locked her fingers together with her hands. "Are you or are you not going to use that book to attack?"

He glanced over at the book in his 'hands' with his eyes since he could not move his head to look.

Then, he glanced back over at her as she patiently waited for him to respond to her question.

He is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Deciding to risk his life with her unusual trust, he responded with, "Na, no whit A think o'."

She smiled after he responded and lifted her hand, snapping her fingers as she said, speaking in the same language as she said before, "_Dimittere._"

The book fell out of his 'hands' after she said the word, as she instantly got up from the ground and swooped over, catching the book before it could land on the ground, as he went stiff when her metal hand was against his chest.

It looked a hundred percent made of metal in his eyesight, but to his more confusion and wonder…, it felt like an actual _human's_ hand.

Once she had caught the book, she moved back up to her height and sighed, removing her hand away from his chest as he sat back down on her bed, placing the book back.

"Please be careful," she warned him as he felt confused. "You might accidentally rip one of these books."

He nodded his head silently after she warned him, still thinking to himself about how _realistic_ the metal hand felt against his chest.

It is not like the ones Robert has back at his base since it does not look like the one she has on her arm.

"Anyway, that aside," she spoke as she placed the book down on the coffee table next to her. "Let's trade names, okay? My name is Stephanie, Stephanie Nova Rose Allen. You?"

He hesitated again after she asked, not wanting to say his name to get himself turned into the Navy or getting into more trouble with Robert.

"A'm no tellin' ye ma name." he snapped at her as she still had a straight face.

"Is it because I might either tell the Navy or bust your butt to Robert?" He instantly went pale in the face when she pointed out his mental thoughts, feeling like he was sweating bullets.

How did she know what he was thinking in his mind?!

Unless… she must be very good at body position, facial expression, and temperature he is in.

"H-How did ye know whit A wis thinkin' o' thon?" He nervously spoke, not making eye contact with her. "Thon's stupid, we Scottish arenae afraid o' bein' i' trouble wi' Robert or the Kin.' We-"

"Only dae whit other Scotsmen dae." Stephanie, his kidnapper, spoke again in an excellent fake Scottish accent, surprising him with the last words _he_ was thinking of saying next.

Right now… he is _very_ stuck in a rock and a hard place, with a mind reader that makes things _worse._

"Now," Stephanie spoke again as she cracked her knuckles, clearing her throat a little. "Changing the subject a little from names."

He nervously gulped as he sat on her bed, shaking like a leaf in front of her.

Half of him was berating himself for being afraid of a _human_ that can _read minds,_ but the other half of him was telling him he was in deep horse manure.

"About that blueprint," she spoke as she reached into her pocket, taking out one of _Robert's_ blueprints to his surprise. "Do you know where the pieces of this machine is?"

"HOU I' THE NAME O' GOD DID YE GET THON FROM ROBERT?!" he exclaimed with surprise.

"Pay attention, please." Stephanie politely responded, showing the design on the front. "Do you know where one of the pieces is?"

He paused again after Stephanie asked, feeling like he wanted to rat Robert out for abandoning him like that and wanting to get himself out of the situation he was in.

So, without having a chance of trying to escape, he finally fussed to her, "A dinnae know much o' thaim, but A dae know ane o' thaim."

She gently smiled after he confessed, asking, "Which one?"

"The ane i' the richt," he answered, slumping on the bed. "Thon ane is somewhere i' Rome, but A dinnae remember where he placit it."

Stephanie glanced at the blueprint and nodded her head, rolling it back up and placing it back into her sweater pocket.

She stood back up to her feet from the chair she was sitting in, towering a few feet or more over his height, which seemed to creep him out a little.

"Thank you for having this conversation with me." she thanked him, bowing slightly to him to his confusion. "I'll talk to you later once we get there… and you have to lead us where you think he placed it."

He went silent after she thanked him, turning around and opened the door as he called to her, "Ye're awfully kynd for a villain."

She stopped before exiting out of the room and glanced over her shoulder at him, responding, "Yes, I am. But sometimes the villain is the one who cares the least, rather than the one who takes care of others."

A perplexed expression appeared on his face after she spoke to him, entering the hallway and closing the door behind her back, locking it behind her back, so he would not escape.

Once she was out of the room, he hopped off the bed and walked up to the window, clicking it a little to see if the 'escape-proof' thing had worn down a little from his struggle.

But, to his surprise, he had managed to open the window a little, letting in the fresh air and listening to a conversation outside that had Stephanie's voice in it.

"Hey, Norman!" Stephanie called, confusing him slightly. "Can't hear you, peach!"

"Sorry!" another voice called back to Stephanie as he continued listening to the conversation. "Forgetting about the window!"

"It's alright, Norman!" Stephanie called Norman. "I got the first clue to where the first piece of Robert's Rubik's Cube is!"

"Where?" another voice asked, sounding confused and surprised at the same time.

"Rome!" Stephanie called.

"'Rome?!'" Norman exclaimed. "That's around fifty or eighty miles away from where we are now!"

"I know!" Stephanie called Norman as he listened to their conversation. "But which point of the compass should we take, Norman?"

Silence went into the air briefly, before Stephanie called again after a minute passed, "Can't hear you, peach!"

"Sorry!" Norman called again, as Stephanie exclaimed, "I thought they fixed that window!"

"Must be the wind!" Norman responded before explaining, "All we need to do is head west-east from where we are, and like I said before, head around fifty or eighty miles until we reach to Rome!"

"Thank you, Norman!" Stephanie called him as he attempted to open the window a little more to see better. "Captain! West-east, please!"

Sighing, he slumped against the window with a huff, seeing that he _still_ could not open the window as he used to in most of them.

It was _still_ escape-proof even after the conversation he had with that… human.

Giving up trying to escape again, he closed the window after overhearing the conversation, huffing as he hopped around Stephanie's room, deciding to figure out _another_ way out of this situation he had gotten himself into.

1


End file.
